Encore une Fois
by Davis Family Fan
Summary: SamLexis, Molly, and Kristina are back in the DEJA VU SEQUEL. Plus LUSAM and perhaps some JASAM! Let's see! Are these accidents, or is someone after the Davis Family? In the midst of it all, can they find lasting love? Find out in the EXPLOSIVE new story.
1. Broken

Alright folks, your wish is my command! Let's start this thing!

Thank you all for your crazy support in re my first fanfiction… If you're reading this without having first read Déjà Vu, I suggest you go back and read that first .

Remember, updates will be infrequent (and non-existent mid to end of November until near Christmas, as I'll be in the trenches studying for final exams); some updates may come quicker than others, while others may be significantly delayed. As a result, I ask you to be patient with me, and just enjoy the ride.

Oh yea, and don't forget your parachutes, lest you fall off the cliffs.

~Meliora.

P.S. As you know, I love reviews, and opinions on the direction of the story, so please keep them coming!

_**Edited 8/19 00:18 :** I hope I got all the errors! If not, ooooh well! LOL. Thanks for your great reviews; keep them coming!_

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**Chapter One**

**BROKEN**

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Alexis reached over and turned down the music her daughter had blasting on the radio.

--- "Kristina, keep both hands on the wheel; don't worry about the music."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Mom, can you not touch the radio please?!"

As she reached over to turn the music back up, Alexis noticed the swerving car ahead, whose high beams were on.

--- "KRISTINA, WATCH OUT!"

Alexis grabbed the wheel of the car, causing it to swerve, just missing the erratically driven car. Unfortunately, their car was not so lucky as they crashed into a tree.

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Sam and Lucky finished making love in the hot tub for the third time; she had missed his body, his touch, and his taste on her lips.

--- "Baby, I cannot tell you how much I've missed this."

Lucky put his hand under the water. Sam gasped in excitement.

--- "Yea, me too. I love you, Sam."

--- "Yea… hmmm… I…. lo----ooo---ve, yoooou, toooooo."

She pulled his face to hers and gave him the most passionate kiss, showing him how much she loved him at that moment.

When they were done, Lucky helped her out of the hot tub. He refused to give her her robe, so she shrugged, and walked back into the apartment completely naked, leaving Lucky to watch her in awe.

--- "Order dinner." She called over her shoulder.

Thirty minutes later, Sam came out of the shower feeling refreshed, but somewhat bothered. She had this nagging feeling that she could not shake off; her family kept coming to mind. She stepped out of the bathroom to retrieve her phone to call her mother, but her the room was completely dark. When she flipped the switch to turn the lights on, nothing happened; she was getting worried.

--- "Lucky?"

She walked into the living room; candles were alit throughout. She looked around amazed at what Lucky had done for her. The table was set up by candlelight with all the food that he had ordered for them nicely arranged.

--- "Oh, baby! This is beautiful."

Lucky took Sam by the hand and led her to the table.

--- "How are your legs?"

Sam chuckled.

--- "Other than the hours of fun we just had, they're fine. I don't really need that cane anymore."

Before taking his seat, Lucky gave Sam a passionate kiss on the nape of her neck.

The two enjoyed dinner together, holding hands, and staring into each other's eyes; this was happiness. Neither Sam, nor Lucky could understand how they had spent so many months apart. Lucky was so enraptured by everything that he got down on his knee.

--- "Lucky, what is this?"

He took her hands into his.

--- "Samantha McCall, will you marry me?"

As she was about to answer, her phone began to ring. Once again, Sam's fears stirred up inside of her about her family; she knew that she had to answer the call.

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The airbags deployed throughout the car on impact, but not before Alexis and her girls were tossed around.

--- "Sh--!" Alexis screamed, her wrist was killing her.

She looked around at the girls. She was grateful to hear Molly crying hysterically, as that clearly meant that she was alive. Unfortunately, Kristina was unconscious.

--- "Krissy, sweetie, wake up. You have to wake up for Mommy."

Kristina began to stir.

--- "Good girl… Come on, wake up."

Kristina took a deep breath before opening her eyes.

--- "Mommy… My head is killing me."

Alexis sighed in relief.

--- "Oh, sweetheart… Okay, I'm going to call an ambulance, please, try not to move. Molly girl, are you okay? I know that you're scared, but are you okay?"

Molly's arm was pounding in pain.

--- "My-my a-a-rm hurts!"

Alexis wanted to reach back to console her baby girl, but the pain in her wrist was intense; there was no way that it wasn't broken.

--- "Oh, baby, I'm sorry about that. Just hang on and be brave for Mommy, okay?"

Molly nodded her head.

--- "Good girl."

Alexis reached in her bag with her good hand and found her phone.

--- "Hello! Yes, this is District Attorney Alexis Davis; my daughters and I have just been in a car accident… I don't know exactly where we are, but I can tell you that we were driving on Lakeview terrace, approximately half a mile from my home… Hold on, I hear sirens coming. Somebody must have phoned for help."

Alexis was right, somebody had called an ambulance, and it was on their way to them at that very moment. Alexis decided that she needed to call Sam and let her know what happened.

--- "Sam, honey, it's Mom.

Sam was relieved to hear her mother's voice.

--- "Mom, I know it's you. Are you okay?"

--- "Um, not really, but yea—"

--- "What the hell does that mean?!"

--- "Samantha, calm down! We've been in a car accident –"

--- "WHAT?!"

--- "Honey, we're all alive, but I'm pretty sure that my wrist is broken, and Molly's arm is as well. Kristina is the one I'm worried about; she hit her head, and was unconscious for a couple of minutes."

--- "Mom, is she awake now?"

--- "Yea. But she said that her head is pounding."

--- "Okay, thank God. I'm glad that you're all okay. I'm going to meet you at GH."

--- "Good. Honey, the paramedics are here now. I'm going to have to go. Honey, I love you."

--- "I love you, too. I'll see you soon. Hang in there."

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Sam ran as quickly as she could to her bedroom and began getting dressed. Lucky followed behind her.

--- "Sam, what's going on?"

--- "My family's been in a car accident; I've gotta get to GH. Baby, I'm sorry, we're going to have to deal with this later. Can you clean this up? I'm probably going to stay at home with my mom and sisters."

Lucky gave her a hug and a kiss.

--- "Of course. I'll be by the house later to check on everyone."

--- "Thanks. I love you."

Sam grabbed her jacket and keys, and was out the door in a flash.

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Throughout the ambulance ride to the hospital, Kristina complained of a headache. When they arrived at GH, Dr. Drake sent her for an MRI. As for Alexis and Molly, Epiphany and Elizabeth tended to them.

Molly clung to her mother; she wrapped her good arm around her mother's waist and buried her face into her body, which made it difficult for Alexis to move. While she loved having her daughters around her at all times, and she was always willing to comfort them when needed, Alexis' wrist was killing her, and she needed Molly to cooperate.

--- "Baby, come on, look at Mommy."

Molly did not budge; she continued to cry hysterically.

--- "Baby, I know your arm hurts; Mommy's does too. The longer you don't allow Nurse Epiphany and Nurse Elizabeth to take care of us, the longer we'll both be in pain. You don't want that do you?'

Molly shook her head.

--- "Ok, well Molly, you need to be very brave and let Elizabeth take care of you."

Molly eased her grip and looked up at her mother; the poor thing was clearly terrified.

--- "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me."

Alexis knew that this would not be easy seeing as Molly had still been clingy with her since the Jeff incident. While she had calmed down over the past few months, Molly's natural proclivity, whenever sick or scared was to grasp onto her mother; since the Jeff incident, when those times arose, that tendency increased tenfold from what it had previous been. Alexis took advantage of Molly's loosened grip and got down to eye level with her youngest daughter.

--- "Baby, I will not leave you. I'm just going to be down the hall, getting my wrist taken care of, while you'll be right in this room, having the same thing done to your arm. As soon as I'm done, I will come back to you, okay?"

Molly was practically blinded by her tears; her voice was getting hoarse from her crying. She just nodded her head. Alexis gave her a kiss on both of her cheeks, her forehead and then her nose.

--- "That's my very big girl."

Alexis walked Molly into the examination room, where Elizabeth helped her onto the table.

--- "I'll be back to get you, baby. I love you."

--- "I-I lo-love you, tooo."

With that, Alexis left to get her own wrist taken care of.

Epiphany examined Alexis' wrist.

--- "Without a doubt, your wrist is broken. And that little girl of yours is just as feisty as your eldest daughter."

Alexis laughed.

--- "That she is, but only when she's upset. All my girls are feisty, but Samantha certainly does take the cake on that one."

Epiphany nodded her head.

--- "That she does. But, you can tell how much those girls love you. Even when Sam was throwing a tantrum of her own when she was here after her surgery, it was evident that all she wanted was her Mommy. I swear, if someone didn't know you, they would never be able to tell that you didn't raise that child. Your love for each other is so deep."

**_Flashback_**

__

It had been three days since Alexis had been by the hospital. Sam missed her terribly, but was beyond livid that her mother had the nerve to not come by to see her. When the aide came in to help her in the shower, Sam took the bottle of water she had sitting by the bed and threw it at her.

--- "GET THE F-CK OUT OF HERE!"

The bottle of water landed in the hallway, just shy of hitting Epiphany as she walked by.

--- "What in the world is going on in here?"

The aide gave Epiphany a terrified look. Epiphany shook her head.

--- "You may leave; I'll take care of this patient."

Sam looked at her with her mouth wide open.

--- "The HELL you will!"

The aide quickly left the room. Epiphany closed the door behind her.

--- "Samantha McCall, I don't know who you think you are, but the next time you throw anything at one of my workers, you'll be out of the hospital so fast, you'd think you could run again."

Sam rolled her eyes at the terrifying nurse. Epiphany pulled the sheets from Sam's legs.

--- "What do you think you're doing?"

Epiphany stopped and looked at the woman, who was acting like a child, before she tried to get her from the bed to the wheelchair.

--- "You need a shower, and I'm going to help give you one."

Sam fought her, along with the pain in her back.

--- "Like I said, THE HELL YOU WILL. I don't want your help."

The nurse was going to argue with her, but she decided to let it go.

--- "Fine. You can stay like this all day."

Sam was shocked. She was used to taking two showers a day, so to have to go the entire day without a shower was absolutely torturous to her; however, she was not about to let Epiphany help her out.

--- "Whatever. Get out."

Epiphany shook her head.

--- "You are one spoiled brat. Wait until your mother hears about this."

Sam scoffed.

--- "Yea, my mother really gives a damn. I haven't seen her in days."

The nurse sighed.

--- "If you think that your mother doesn't care about you, you're not as smart as I thought you were. Good day Ms. McCall."

_**End of Flashback**_

Epiphany rolled her eyes at the memory.

--- "That girl should've been grateful that she wasn't my child that day!"

Alexis laughed again.

--- "Yea, when you told me what happened, I called Kristina, since she was at a session with Lainey, and told her to go help her sister. As upset as I was with Sam, I couldn't let her stay like that all day."

--- "What did Kristina say?"

--- "She wasn't happy. Not because she didn't want to help her sister, but because she thought that both Sam and I were being immature about everything. In hindsight, she was definitely right about that. Anyway, Krissy loves her sister too much to have ever let her stay that way, so she did as I asked."

--- "Ah, children…"

--- "Indeed."

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As Elizabeth tried to adjust Molly to the table so that her arm could easily be x-rayed, the child jumped off the table. She screamed for her mother, and used her good arm to open the door and ran towards her mother's room down the hall.

--- "Mommy!!!"

Sam saw her sister running out of the room.

--- "Molly!"

Molly heard her sister's voice. She stopped running and looked around until she saw her; she ran into Sam's outstretched arms. The poor child was still hysterically crying from both pain and fear.

--- "Oh baby, come on."

Sam lifted her petite and inconsolable sister, careful to not touch her obviously broken arm. She noticed Elizabeth waving at her, so Sam carried her sister in that direction.

--- "It's okay baby, I've got you."

Molly whispered through her tears to Sam.

--- "I don't want you to leave me. [hiccup] W-will you st-stay with me?"

Sam kissed her sister's cheek.

--- "Oh course I will, my little clone."

Molly's x-rays confirmed that her arm was indeed broken, in not one, but three places. After some pain medication was given to her, she allowed Elizabeth to work on putting a purple cast on for her. She had calmed down quite a bit since Sam had, as promised, stayed with her.

As the child's cast was being put on, Alexis walked in donning her own freshly casted wrist. She was happy to see that Sam had arrived, and credited Molly's calmer demeanor to her eldest daughter's arrival.

--- Hi honey. I'm so happy you're here."

--- "Aww, so your wrist really was broken!"

Alexis gave her daughters each a kiss on the top of their heads.

--- "Yea. How are you, baby?"

Molly wiped her freshly fallen tears from her face.

--- "It hurt so bad; now I can't feel my arm anymore."

Alexis gave her an empathetic smile.

--- "I know. But you see, Mommy's got a cast too."

Molly nodded her head, and leaned back into Sam, in whose lap she was seated.

Elizabeth finished putting the cast on for the child, just as Patrick and Kristina walked in. Kristina went directly to sit beside her mother, and laid her head onto her lap; Alexis began playing with her daughter's hair.

--- "So Patrick, is everything all right?"

--- "Yea, she's got a concussion, since she hit her head pretty hard. She's going to have a headache for a while, but she'll be fine. Looking at her, she got a better deal out of this than you two."

Alexis laughed.

--- "That she did."

--- "Just wake her up every couple of hours to make sure that she's fine. She doesn't have to spend the night here."

--- "That's a relief. Thanks Patrick. Thanks Elizabeth."

--- "No problem. Call us if you need anything."

--- "You've got my word on that."

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Sam drove her family home. Her sisters had fallen asleep immediately upon entering the car.

--- "You know, Mom, if you wanted me home, you didn't have to go through all this to get me there. I would've come willingly had you asked."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "That's not funny, Samantha."

At that moment, Alexis realized that her daughter had been walking without a cane.

--- "Samantha, where's your cane?"

--- "Crap, I ran out of the house so fast that I completely forgot it!"

Alexis sighed.

--- "Honey, you have to walk with it at all times! I don't want you to set yourself back. I have an extra one for you at home."

--- "Thanks. I'm so relieved that you're fine. I swear, I had this nagging feeling that something was wrong, and I needed to talk to you, but Lucky distracted me—"

Alexis interrupted her.

--- "Samantha—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Not like that, Mom. Get your mind out of the gutter."

--- "It wasn't I who picked up the phone from your _younger_ sister while having sex—"

--- "I said I was sorry!"

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "Don't do that again."

Sam laughed.

--- "Okay! I swear, I promise!"

Alexis shook her head at her daughter before cracking a smile.

--- "You're such a nut."

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Sam pulled into the driveway. Alexis lifted Molly, who was in a deep sleep, out of the car. Sam quickly went over and took her sister from her.

--- "Mom, what are you doing!? You shouldn't be putting weight on your wrist like this!"

Alexis rolled her eyes and woke Kristina up.

--- "Sweetie, wake up."

Kristina walked right into the house, and straight into her room; she got into the bed without bothering to change out of her clothes. Alexis followed behind her and took her daughter's shoes off; she grabbed an oversized t-shirt out of her daughter's dresser drawer, and changed her into it.

--- "Good night, sweetheart. I know you're going to hate me in a couple of hours when I have to wake you up."

Kristina was half asleep.

--- "Night, Mommy."

Kristina fell right back into a deep sleep.

She walked into Molly's room where Sam had finished changing Molly into her pajamas.

--- "Geez, this kid is out like a rock! She didn't stir once!"

--- "Yea, all three of you tend to sleep that way."

The two women walked into the kitchen where Sam made them cups of tea.

Alexis could tell something was on her daughters mind.

--- "What's the matter?"

Sam gave her mother a confused look.

--- "What are you talking about?"

--- "Honey, I know you. Something's bothering you, other than this accident."

Her mother could read her like a book.

--- "Lucky proposed."

Alexis was ecstatic, but could tell that Sam was unsure about it.

--- "Oh my good, honey, I'm so happy! Why aren't you?"

--- "Mom I am!"

--- "So what's the problem? Did you accept?"

--- "No."

--- "You told him no?!"

--- "No, no, no, I didn't get a chance to answer either way! You called me."

Alexis almost felt bad that she didn't give her daughter a chance to answer such a life-altering question, but she knew that her call could not have come at better timing.

--- "You're happy that I interrupted aren't you?"

Sam nodded.

--- "Yea. I don't know, Mom. This is a big step. He and I have only recently started seeing each other again. I think that this was just a spur of the moment kind of thing for him. We had just had a great night together—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Samantha—"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Will you quit it!? It was more than just sex… lots and lots of really good sex!"

Alexis put her hands to her ears and rolled her eyes.

--- "Samantha, I have no interest in hearing about the amount of sex you've had tonight."

Sam laughed.

--- "Whatever."

--- "Well, are you going to accept?"

Again, before Sam could respond, she was interrupted; this time by Kristina.

--- "Mom, Sam, Mol's throwing up."

Sam and Alexis ran into Molly's room. The child was lying on her bed, vomiting blood.

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**SOOOOO.... What did you think?**


	2. Plumbing

Ok, so as the hours slip away, I get increasingly more depressed at the thought of being back at school in about 36 hours. I still have 30 more pages to read, and outline for class on Thursday, and I need to be in court that morning as well. So, instead of reading those pages right now, it's midnight and I'm working on this next chapter. Can you tell how excited I am to be ending my summer?

~Meliora.

Um, please remember that any medical jargon is pure BS on my part.

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**Chapter Two**

**PLUMBING**

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Alexis and Sam ran into Molly's bedroom; they found her lying on her bed vomiting up blood.

--- "Oh my God! Sam, call 911!"

Sam grabbed her cell from her back pocket and dialed emergency.

--- "Hi, yes, this is Samantha McCall, I need an ambulance right away at the District Attorney's house: 1530 Lakeview Terrace. My little sister was in a car accident this evening and she's now vomiting up blood! PLEASE HURRY!"

Sam hung up the phone and looked from her mother to her sister. Sam was terrified for her sister; she was vomiting a lot, and there was a significant amount of blood coming up.

--- "Mom, should we move her?"

Alexis was hysterical, she didn't know what to do. All she could think to do was to hold Molly as she lay there, ensuring that she didn't vomit on her blood.

--- "I don't know! Oh my God, baby, come on, you have to be okay!"

Molly finally stopped vomiting. She tried to say something to her mother and sister, but she passed out.

--- "GOD! Molly girl, you need to wake up! Honey, it's Sammy! Wake up for me, PLEASE!"

They heard the sirens outside; so Sam ran down to let the paramedics in.

--- "What's going on here?"

--- "My sister was in a car accident earlier; now she's vomiting up blood."

Sam led the way to her younger sister's room. They examined the young child.

--- "Okay, her pupils are equal and dilated."

Alexis pulled Sam to her; she needed to hold on to one of her children, while her youngest was fighting for her life.

--- "That's good right?"

--- "Yes, that a very good sign, but we need to get her to the hospital right away."

--- "Can I ride with her?"

--- "Are you her mother?"

--- "Yes."

--- "Okay, that's not a problem."

--- "Thank you so much. Sam, before you meet us, grab her favorite teddy bear, the one that she likes to have with her when she's sick. Where's Kristina? KRISTINA!!!"

Sam squeezed her mother's hands.

--- "Mom, relax, Krissy is probably asleep. I guarantee that she didn't even realize what was going on. I'll get her up, and we'll be at the hospital right behind you. Just go!"

Alexis was nearly hysterical at this point.

--- "Oh my God, I can't lose my baby!"

--- "You're not going to! Please, just keep it together. You don't want Molly to wake up seeing you like this."

Alexis took a deep breath, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

--- "You're probably right. Okay, honey, please be careful when you drive to the hospital, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you and Kristina."

Sam gave her a mother a quick kiss on the cheek, as the paramedics put Molly on a stretcher and exited with her.

--- "Mom, just go; we'll be fine. I promise you that!"

Alexis nodded, and followed them out.

Sam ran into Kristina's room and found her fast asleep in her bed.

--- "Krissy, honey, you have to wake up. I'm sorry to get you up again, and I know that you're tired, but Molly's really hurt, and we have to get to the hospital."

Sam ran into her sister's closet and grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a matching sweatshirt, a shirt to go underneath it, and some Ugg boots; it was cold January in upstate New York.

--- "Kristina, come on, honey, get up!"

Kristina's head was pounding; she could not think straight. Patrick Drake had told them that she would be suffering from a pretty bad headache; she just never expected it to be this bad.

--- "What?"

--- "Honey, can you dress yourself? I need to grab some things for Molly that Mom wanted me to bring."

Sam didn't wait for a response, she ran through the adjoining bathroom, and back into Molly's room. She grabbed her sister's favorite set of pajamas for when she's sick, along with her favorite Teddy, Mr. Plumber, who kept her company on those sick days. Sam helped her sister name the bear.

_**Flashback**_

Sam and Molly, who at that time was five, went out grocery shopping, but somehow, along the way, they managed to find their way into a toy store. Molly saw this cute teddy bear wearing a pair of overalls, almost similar to the one's that she had been wearing that day.

--- "Sammy! Can I get this? Please!"

Sam could never turn down her sister, which was probably why Molly was known to have tantrums when she did not get her way. While not at all a brat of a child, being the baby, her mother and older sister, rather than Kristina, often gave her almost anything that she asked for. Because she looked so much like Sam, Alexis tended to splurge on gifts for her, trying to compensate for the years that she did not raise her eldest child. Sam, on the other hand, yet quite similarly, wanted to give her sister the things that she, herself, never had growing up. Molly, by the luck of the draw and genes, was getting a pretty sweet deal.

--- "Um, sure? But that's an interesting choice of bears."

Molly smiled.

--- "He's so cute! He looks like a plumber."

Sam grabbed the bear and looked at him.

--- "Yea, I guess he somewhat does. I would've said painter, but that's just me. You should name him Mr. Plumber."

Molly jumped up and down in excitement.

--- "OH! I like that!"

Sam bent down to her sister's level.

--- "Yea, and I bet he would be a perfect teddy bear to keep around whenever you're sick."

Molly was confused.

--- "Why?"

--- "Because, plumbers fix runny sinks and toilets, and when you're sick, you certainly have a runny nose, and sometime a runny ass… um, I mean bottom."

Sam wished that she had not made that blunder, as the young child was prone to repeat everything that she had said. She was sure to hear about this from her mother.

When Sam and Molly returned to the lake house from grocery shopping, Alexis noticed the new addition to her household of stuffed animals, in her youngest daughter's arms.

--- "Baby, who's that?"

Molly ran to her mother.

--- "This is Mr. Plumber!"

Sam tried to divert the attention from the bear, knowing full well that her sister was about to blow her out of the water.

--- "Um, Mol, why don't you go put Mr. Plumber in your room, and come help me make dinner. Maybe we can show Mom how to boil water without burning the pot?"

Alexis rolled her eyes at her eldest daughter.

--- "Whatever, Samantha. Mr. Plumber? That's an interesting name. Did you name him?"

Sam waited, knowing that it was coming. **She tried again to interrupt the conversation.**

--- "Um, Mom, these grocery bags are pretty heavy! Can you help me take these into the kitchen, please?"

Alexis obliged, and grabbed some bags. Unfortunately for Sam, Molly followed her mother and sister into the kitchen, keeping the conversation going. 

--- "Nope, Sammy did."

Alexis turned around to look at her daughter. She knew Sam well enough now, seeing as it had been about five years since they had discovered that they were mother and daughter, to be able to tell when she was nervous about something. She knew that whatever was bothering her eldest daughter, it had something to do with the new bear's name. Alexis asked her young daughter the million-dollar question, while still staring at her obviously anxious eldest daughter.

--- "Why is his name Mr. Plumber, baby?"

Molly laughed.

--- "Because plumbers fix runny faucets! So when I'm sick, he'll be able to fix my runny nose or runny ass! Right Sammy!?"

Both Alexis and Sam turned beat red.

--- "Um, baby, why don't you go play in your room for a little bit, okay? Mommy needs to talk to Sammy."

Molly had no idea that she had said anything wrong. She just scampered out of the room toward her bedroom.

Alexis turned around to look at her daughter.

--- "SAMANTHA! What the hell was that?! Your sister is five years old!"

Sam bit her lip; she felt like a little child being lectured by her mother.

--- "Mom, I know! It slipped out! I didn't make a big deal about it, hoping that she would forget that I said anything like that, but clearly she didn't. I'm sorry."

Alexis tried to suppress her laughter, but she was unsuccessful; she laughed until she cried.

--- "Alright, please, honey, make sure that you try your best to curb your language around your sister. She idolizes you, so you know that she'll repeat anything and everything that comes out of your mouth; she's practically a parrot."

--- "Yea."

Alexis walked over and wrapped her arms around her.

--- "You're a mess, you know that? But, I love you for it. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that you and I have come to this great place in our relationship."

Sam had always wanted a mother to love her the way that Alexis clearly had come to love her; she was overcome with emotion.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.

--- "Well, good. Now go wash your filthy mouth out with soap."

Sam looked up in utter shock at her mother, who still had her in an embrace.

--- "You've got to be kidding me."

Alexis looked down at her eldest daughter in awe of how far they had truly come in their relationship. She burst out laughing.

**End of Flashback.**

Sam ran back into Kristina's room to find her in the same position she left her.

--- "Krissy!"

Kristina put her hands on her head.

--- "Sammy, please don't scream; my head is pounding!"

Sam dropped Molly's things in Kristina's desk chair.

--- "I'm sorry honey, but we've gotta get out of here and get to the hospital. I really wish that you would've made some effort to dress yourself."

Sam grabbed the sweatpants and pulled them on her sister legs, then lifted her from the bed to a standing position, and pulled them up. Kristina refused to remain standing, so she lied back down on the bed once the pants were on her.

--- "Krissy, you seriously have to help me out here. I know your head hurts, but you weigh too much for me to be straining my back on, lifting to get dressed. Honey, put this shirt on."

--- "Sammy, I'm sick…. Where's Mommy?"

Kristina tended to act quite childish whenever she did not feel well. She typically made her mother cater to her every whim, and refused to do anything for herself. She was one of those kids who demanded every ounce of your attention when they were sick. Typically Sam was patient with Kristina whenever she was ill, but at that very moment, she was losing her patience.

--- "Damn it, Kristina! I know you don't feel well, and your head is probably pounding right now, but I already told you that Mom is at the hospital with Molly! We need to get there! Let's go! Put this on! Or at the very least get up so I can get it on you."

Kristina snapped out of her sick misery long enough to hear that Molly was in the hospital. She quickly went into a sitting position. Perhaps she did so too quickly, as she felt light headed the moment she sat up. Sam pulled the t-shirt off of her and replaced it with the long sleeved shirt, and put the sweatshirt on over it. **She handed her sister her boots.**

--- "I assume you can manage to get these on by yourself?"

Kristina nodded her head; she could tell that Sam was stressed and not in the mood to take much care of her. She put the boots on, making sure to tuck her pants into them. 

--- "Okay, come on. Grab your coat. You can sleep in the car."

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They arrived at the hospital in record time. The ambulance quickly unloaded Molly, who still had not regained consciousness. Robin and Patrick Drake met the ambulance at the emergency entrance.

Once they got her into the examination room, Patrick tapped the little girl's belly.

--- "Okay, we need to get her into the OR right now!"

Alexis was permitted to stand in the corner of the room, as long as she didn't touch anything or get in anyone's way.

--- "What's wrong with her?"

--- "She's got internal bleeding in her abdomen; that's probably why she was throwing up. Alexis, I need you to sign off on the surgery right now."

Alexis looked at her tiny daughter lying unconscious on the examination table.

---- "Will she die?"

Patrick took a deep sigh.

--- "Alexis, she'll die without the surgery. We don't know how bad the damage is, but we need to get her in there now."

Alexis nodded her head, terrified at the prospect of losing her baby.

--- "Okay. Do the surgery."

She signed the boilerplate forms Patrick handed to her, which as an attorney she was quite familiar with; she consented to the surgery, acknowledging that she waived the right to sue the doctor or the hospital for damages, unless in the case of proven malpractice, if her daughter did not pull through.

--- "I need to talk to Molly quickly, is that alright?"

Patrick nodded.

Alexis walked over to her young daughter.

--- "Baby, you need to be strong for Mommy and fight hard, okay? I need you to fight hard and get through this. Mommy cannot lose you, alright? I love you so much honey. So very very much. Sammy's coming, and she's bringing Mr. Plumber for you. Okay? He's going to stop the running of the blood in your tummy. That's what plumbers do, right? They stop things from running."

Alexis gave Molly a kiss on each cheek, the forehead, and the nose; this always calmed her young daughter down whenever she was sick or frightened.

--- "Baby, I love you from the sun to the ends of this universe."

Robin put her hand on Alexis' arm.

--- "Alexis, I'm sorry, but we really have to go."

Alexis gave a tearful nod, and watched as they rolled her beautiful eight year old out of the room.

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Sam and Kristina found Alexis sitting tearfully in the waiting area. When Alexis saw them, she stood up and gave them a hug.

--- "How's Molly?"

Alexis had tears in her eyes.

--- "She's in surgery. She had internal bleeding."

Sam put her hand to her mouth.

--- "Oh my God! How the hell didn't they catch that when she was here before?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "She didn't show any signs of abdominal pain. She only had her obvious broken arm."

Kristina was still pretty out of it, so she just sat down in the chair, hoping that her mother would soon sit beside her so that she could rest of head on her lap. Although she was feeling quite ill, she was still concerned about her sister, and prayed that everything would be fine.

Alexis noticed that her middle daughter had sit down, and was obviously still not feeling well.

--- "Sweetie, are you okay?"

Kristina shook her head.

--- "Mommy, my head still hurts."

Alexis sat down beside her daughter; Kristina immediately put her head on her mother's lap, and rested her legs on the other empty chair next to her.

Sam shook her head at the sight. She wanted to somewhat lighten the mood, because it would clearly be hours until they got any information about Molly. She smiled and pointed at her sister.

--- "This child has got to grow out of this. I swear, she had me straining my back lifting her grown behind getting her dressed. She was not trying to do anything by herself at all."

Alexis looked down at her daughter, who had quickly fallen back asleep; she shook her head and laughed to herself.

--- "That's because your sister is spoiled. And I'll be the first to admit that it's my fault that all three of you girls are spoiled as can be, especially when you aren't feeling well."

**Sam looked at her mother in surprise.**

--- "Me?! Mom, I'm a grown woman! I'm _not_ spoiled! How could I be?"

Alexis looked at her daughter for a couple of seconds before rolling her eyes.

--- "Samantha, you've got to be kidding me with that one. Whenever you're not feeling well, you three all of a sudden become incapable of doing anything; you know that I'll take care of everything for you, so you just give into your illness."

Suddenly Alexis' eyes welled with tears.

--- "God, if Molly dies, it's my own fault."

Sam took her mother's hand in hers.

--- "Mom, how in the world would it be your fault?

Alexis wiped the tears from her eyes.

--- "Because I do just that! I take care of everything when you girls are sick! I don't require that you fight whatever illness you have. You just lie in the bed and be sick as long as you want, until Mommy comes and caters to your every whim. I didn't teach her how to fight to stay alive when sick; she's just used to lying there and letting Mommy do everything. **It's no wonder why you girls tend to have colds and viruses longer than any normal person!**"

--- "Seriously, you cannot put anything onto yourself, Mom. Molly is not going to die because she's a Davis, and not to mention a Cassidine. We're hard working people. We fight when we know that we have no other choice but to do so. **Besides, we don't stay sick longer than any normal person, we pretend we're still sick for a few days longer; what's better than having you take care of us?**"

That last comment made Alexis smile. Sam continued.

--- "If Molly is anything like me, as you claim, she's a little scrapper; she'll fight, and she'll be fine."

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Patrick examined inside Molly's abdomen. He found the source of the bleeding. When he went to repair the damage, the heart monitor began to go off, signaling that Molly's heart had stopped.

--- "Sh--! Molly, you stay with us… Clamps!"

Patrick charged the clamps, and placed them on the child's chest.

--- "CLEAR!"

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**_Okay, I've made the edits and corrections! I'm not sure when I'll update this again. You should all already know that I've got ADD when it comes to getting my work done, and since I LOVE writing these stories, I might post sooner than I say, so I'm not going to say a word. When I update, you'll see it! Just not today, I've definitely got to get these last 30 pages cranked out; I can't have the professor trying to embarrass me on the first day back... or ever, for that matter! DAMN THE SOCRATIC METHOD!_**

**_Please Keep Reviewing! I tend to be so much more willing to write when I see reviews! Good, Bad, and Threatening! :oD_**

**_~Mel_**


	3. Unknown

**Edited**: 8/20/09

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**Chapter Three**

**Unknown**

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Alexis sat in the waiting room in a daze with two of her three daughters beside her; Kristina was fast asleep with her head on her mother's lap, while Sam fought her desire to sleep while resting her head on her shoulder. As she sat there, Alexis felt something off in the second hour of the projected three-hour surgery; she knew that her baby was in trouble.

When the three-hour surgery turned into a four-hour surgery, Alexis began worry even more. She shook her girls awake, both of whom who were now in deep sleep.

--- "Sam, Kristina, I'm sorry to wake you, but I need to find out what's going on in the surgery."

Sam rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch.

--- "It's been three-hours; they're not out yet?"

Alexis began to tear up.

--- "No, and I have a horrible feeling—"

Kristina, who was feeling ten times better than she did hours before, wrapped her arm around her mother.

--- "Mom, I'm sure that the fact that nobody's come out to tell you anything, only means that Molly's doing well in there."

Sam took her mother's hand in hers, and nodded in agreement.

--- "Krissy's right. If neither Patrick, nor Robin, have come out to tell us anything, that has to mean something--"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, you don't get it. When you were stabbed Sam, I felt it! I had a searing pain in my back; I knew that something was wrong with you and that you were in danger—"

--- "Well, what do you feel now?"

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_A very pretty, and somewhat tall for her age young teen, or tween as a child her age was typically called, approached Molly. The teen was smiling as though she knew the girl._

__

--- "Okay, so this is totally weird."

Molly looked around, unsure as to whom this pretty teen was speaking. When she realized that she was the only one around, she figured that the girl must have been speaking to her.

--- "Um, what is?"

The teen laughed and shook her head.

--- "You're younger than I am, but nonetheless, you're my aunt."

Molly looked at the girl as though she had three heads.

--- "I am?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically.

--- "Yea."

Molly thought the teen was a bit crazy. She stared at her for a couple of seconds before she had a bit of an epiphany about this strange girl.

--- "You look like my Mom."

The young teen smiled.

--- "That's because she's my grandma; you look like my Mom."

Molly was once again confused.

--- "I look like Sam."

Lila laughed.

_--- "Yea, I know, silly; she's my Mom."_

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--- "I don't know, I feel nothing. And that terrifies me."

Alexis suddenly broke down into tears.

--- "I can't feel her! Why can't I feel her?"

Sam stood up in front of her mother and gave her a hug, while Kristina leaned over and wrapped her other arm around her sister. They both held their mother, in a bit of a huddle, as she cried.

--- "Mom, it's going to be fine. Don't worry, like Sam said, if something had happened, they would've come out and told us."

Alexis remained inconsolable; she could not get over the fact that she was having a hard time feeling her daughter. She began to hyperventilate. Sam pulled away and grabbed her mother's purse.

--- "Mom, breathe in, breathe out. Where's your inhaler? I don't see it in here!"

Alexis grabbed her purse and searched inside; she could have sworn that she had it in her purse. Sam began to panic.

--- "Damn it! Oh my God… Okay, Krissy, keep her calm. I'm going to get her some help."

As Sam ran toward the nurses' station, Kristina knelt in front of her mom.

--- "Mommy, look at me. Breathe. You have to try to concentrate on breathing. Come on!"

Alexis tried her best to concentrate on breathing, but the more she thought about the fact that she was unable to feel Molly's presence, she felt her throat further tighten.

Sam saw Epiphany walking down the hall, so she ran to catch up with her.

--- "EPIPHANY!"

The nurse turned around at the sound of someone calling her name.

--- "Ms. McCall, what can I do for you?"

Sam was terrified, more terrified than she had been in a long time.

--- "My mom, she can't breathe. Her inhaler, she forgot it."

Epiphany put her hands on Sam's shoulders.

--- "Honey, you need to breathe yourself."

Sam began to calm down. Epiphany quickly walked to the supply closet.

--- "Alright, what kind of inhaler does she have?"

Sam told her the meter type, medication her mother used, and the dosage of the medication. Epiphany quickly searched through the supplies and found the generic version of the pump Alexis used.

--- "Here, run this to your mother. I'll be by to check on her in a couple of minutes, I need to lock up."

--- "Thank you."

Sam ran to where her mother and sister were seated. She opened the inhaler and handed it to her still hyperventilating mother.

--- "Mom, here."

Alexis took a few pumps; she quickly felt a sense of relief.

--- "Thank you. I'm so sorry for scaring you girls."

She took each of her daughters' hands and kissed them.

Epiphany came over to check on her.

--- "How are you doing Ms. Davis?"

Alexis tried to smile, but her mind continued to go back to her youngest child.

--- "Better, thank you."

Epiphany gave Alexis a sympathetic smile.

--- "Would you like me to check on your daughter for you?"

Alexis was incredibly touched by Epiphany's generosity.

--- "I would appreciate that immensely! Thank you."

Epiphany smiled and walked towards the nursing station.

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_Molly shook her head in disbelief._

__

--- "Sammy doesn't have any kids."

The smile left the teen's face.

--- "Well, not anymore."

Molly noticed that Lila's eyes were welling with tears.

--- "Please don't cry. I'm just confused. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Suddenly a tall and beautiful redhead approached the two girls; she handed Lila a tissue.

**--- "Honey, are you okay?"**

****

Lila nodded her head.

--- "Yea, I just miss my mom."

The redhead passed her hand over Lila's cheek.

--- "Oh squirt, it's okay. Hey, you've got me! And Danny! What about Grandma Kristen? I know we're no substitute for your Mom, but nonetheless, we're here for you. Alright, baby?"

--- "I guess you're right."

Her aunt gave her a hug and kiss on the forehead.

--- "I love you pumpkin head."

Lila smiled.

--- "I love you too."

**The redhead turned her attention to the shy little girl who looked so much like her mother, and had the same eyes as her tearful teen niece. **

--- "Aren't you a beautiful little girl."

The child blushed.

--- "Thank you. I look like my sister."

**Kristina winked, and jokingly snapped and pointed her finger at Molly.**

--- "Who happens to resemble my mother."

Molly was further confused.

_--- "Who [i]are_ you people? You look familiar."

She pointed to the redhead rather than the teen. The redhead knelt down in front of the child.

--- "I'm your aunt, Kristina—"

She shook her head.

--- "My aunt Kristina went to heaven."

Kristina smiled at her little niece, happy that her sister had told the child about her.[/i]

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Sam handed Kristina some cash.

--- "Krissy, can you run downstairs to the machine and get Mom and me bottles of water, and whatever you want for yourself?"

--- "Okay."

Kristina left to retrieve her family some drinks.

Sam sat down by her mother again.

--- "Mom, how are you feeling?"

Alexis could not explain the feeling that she was having.

--- "I don't know."

Sam grabbed her mother's hands.

--- "Well, can you feel her?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "I don't know."

--- "Well, I guess that's better than nothing. You do have some sort of feeling right?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Honey, I do, but I don't know what to make of it. I can't tell if she's alive, I can't tell if she's in pain, I can't tell anything! I just have a strange feeling that I haven't felt since—"

Sam looked at her mother.

--- "Since when, Mom?"

--- "Since the day you were stabbed, and you were dying on the table. I guess it could've been before Lucky found you and got help."

Sam felt tears welling into her eyes.

--- "You think Molly's dying?"

Alexis put her head down.

--- "I don't know. I hope that's not it—"

Sam wiped her fallen tears.

--- "Well, that doesn't even matter. I was dying and I pulled through. So, if God forbid Molly is—"

Sam could not even bring herself to say the words again. She buried her face in her hands. Alexis put her arms around her daughter, but Sam pushed her away. Alexis knew that was how her daughter coped with things; she pushed her loved ones away from her. While she would normally allow Sam to deal with her feelings on her own, this time Alexis refused; she needed her girls to be on the same page with her. She needed her girls to communicate with her about how they were feeling. If something were to happen to that beautiful little girl of hers, she was going to need her girls to let their tears out; she needed them to lean on each other, not pull away.

--- "Honey, look at me."

Sam kept her face buried in her hands.

--- "Samantha, I'm asking you to look at me."

Once again, Sam ignored her mother's request; she continued to cry hysterically. Sam loved that little girl more than her own life. She loved both of her sisters and her mother more than words could ever describe. The thought that Molly was dying was too much for her to bear. While she typically tried to stay strong whenever her family needed her, saving her tears for when she was alone, she could not keep the emotions bottled inside.

To Sam, Molly was the child that she should have been. Molly was spunky, feisty, and adventurous; she was not afraid to get her hands dirty, as demonstrated by the fact that her mother continuously had to bathe her herself because the child consistently came home from school, or day camp in the summer, covered in dirt or some sticky substance. Molly was a sweetheart, who was incredibly affectionate with those she loved. She made living at home enjoyable because she was always getting into something.

Sam was incredibly attached to the little girl. When she slept at home, she would wake up to Molly's arm on her face, or her leg across her stomach. If Molly died, who would barge into her room and bathroom for no other reason but to tell her that Mr. Plumber was unable to fix her Baby Wee-wee's leaky issues?

Alexis got up from her chair, and knelt in front of Sam; she put her hands on her daughter's knees.

--- "Honey, I asked you to look at me."

When Sam continued to cry with her face buried in her hands, Alexis grabbed her daughter's arms, trying to get her to move her hands from her face; Sam resisted.

--- "Samantha, please don't fight me; my wrist is broken."

Sam finally relented; her eyes were puffy and red. Alexis stood up and pulled Sam to her. Sam's heart was breaking at the thought that her sister was dying; she let her mother comfort her.

--- "Oh honey, it's okay, just let it out. I don't know why you're always trying to shut your emotions away from me. Just let it out."

As she held and comforted her crying daughter, Alexis felt an aching in her heart.

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Patrick continued to shock Molly's little chest; he had been at it for ten minutes.

--- "Come on, honey, you have to pull through."

He put the paddles back onto her chest.

--- "CLEAR!"

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_--- "Did I go to heaven too?"_

__

Kristina smiled at her niece; she didn't want to answer her questions.

--- "You're so pretty, you know that? I'm so glad that I got to meet you."

Molly blushed again.

--- "Thank you... Why am I here? Did I go to heaven to? Am I going to live with you now?"

Kristina looked at Molly.

_--- "Baby, I don't know."_


	4. Emotional

I must say, it warms my heart that you all care so deeply about our little angel, Molly. That's really nice. I like her too… We'll think of her fondly with a flashback… (I'll edit this later)

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**Chapter Four**

**Emotional**

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Kristina was shocked to find Alexis consoling Sam, rather than Sam consoling Alexis. Other than having discovered that she was paralyzed, Sam had never really allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable with anyone; she was the family's rock.

--- "Sam, are you okay?"

Kristina knew that her sister wasn't okay; Sam was expressing what Kristina was trying to suppress. She was terrified that they might lose Molly. The three of them, even though they had years between them, Sam, Molly, and Kristina were an inseparable unit; they were close as can be. Their family could never be the same if any one of those pieces were removed.

Alexis pulled Kristina into the embrace, as Sam was still so succumbed by emotion, she was unable to speak. Alexis loved each of her girls equally. She admired their different personalities, and their varied quirkiness.

Sam, because of the way the way she had been raised, had a tough exterior, but once you broke through all of that, one quickly realized that she was a sensitive woman. While she was guarded with her emotions, and allowed very few people close enough in to actually see the true her, she was truly a think-skinned person when situations involved her loved ones. When she allowed you to see the true her, Sam was telling you that she loved you and trusted you; this was truly a gift. Sam was a confident in her skin, but insecure in so many other ways. For all this, Alexis was proud of the relationship that they had formed.

Kristina, on the other hand, she was the complicated soul. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that she was a hormonal teenager. She ranged from all emotions from hot to cold. Kristina was her overly emotional girl. She was the polar opposite if her eldest daughter.

Molly was her baby. She was a funny little kid, who always got herself into something she was not supposed to get into in the first place. Alexis loved that child to pieces for her ability to still remain cute as a button, even when in trouble. Molly was a hell raiser without actually trying to be. Like Sam, she had a tendency to speak her mind, but like Kristina, she could be overly emotional when doing it. Molly was a great combination of the three girls. The possibility that they might lose that piece of the puzzle that kept the girls together was unbearable.

Alexis kissed her two girls on the tops of their heads.

--- "I love you girls so much."

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_**Flashback**_

_Alexis and her three girls were on a month-long family vacation to France. Being that Paris was her favorite place in the world, the girls were under the impression that the month-long trip was undoubtedly going to be spent predominantly there. Alexis, on the other hand, had other plans. While they spent an entire week in Paris visiting everything the city had to offer, Alexis secretly made arrangements for their next trip. _

_One morning, she woke the girls up earlier than they cared for. She woke Sam up first, since she was sharing a room with her eldest daughter. She ran her hand up and down her daughter's back (Sam did not respond well to being shaken awake; Alexis had had a bruised leg for a week as proof of that fact. Apparently, Sam had a tendency to kick anyone, supposedly unconsciously, who attempted to wake her up that way); to be on the safe side, Alexis always stood as far away from Sam's legs when waking her._

_--- "Sam, honey, it's time to wake up."_

_Sam groggily opened up an eye and looked at the clock on her bedside table; it was five in the morning. _

_--- "MOM! It's five in the morning!"_

_She pulled the sheets over her head and inched to the other side of the bed, away from her mother._

_Alexis sighed, climbed onto the bed, and pulled the sheets off of her daughter's head._

_--- "Samantha, wake up."_

_Sam attempted to pull the sheets back, but Alexis held them firm. Instead, she rolled over to get away from her mother, but soon found herself on the floor. Alexis jumped up, and ran to the other side of the bed._

_--- "Honey, are you okay?"_

_Sam was wide awake now._

_--- "Shit—"_

_Alexis held her hand out to her daughter._

_--- "Watch your language, Samantha."_

_Sam rolled her eyes and took her mother's hand and got up._

_--- "I just fell off the bed, cut me some slack. God, that bed is too damn small!"_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "That's your fault. You wanted your own bed, and you didn't want to spend a month sharing a room with your little sisters, so you made us take the smaller room with two beds, and gave the girls the master."_

_Sam rolled her eyes again._

_--- "Ok, fine! Small error in judgment. Now, you wanna tell me why I'm awake at five in the morning, Mom."_

_Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek._

_--- "Nope. Just go take a shower."_

_She looked at her watch, 5:10; they had to be out of the hotel by 6:00 if they were going to make the train. Fortunately, the night before, after the girls had all fallen asleep, she had packed everyone's bags for checkout._

_--- "You've set me back ten minutes, so make that shower ten minutes long."_

_Sam stared at her mother for a few minutes before walking to the bathroom they shared._

_--- "Sam, I'm serious! If you're not out in ten minutes, I'm coming in there! We're on a tight schedule."_

_Sam dismissively waved her hand in her mother's direction._

_Alexis went into the other bedroom of the suite to wake her other two girls. Even though the bed was huge, six year old Molly had found a way to be in her thirteen year old sister's personal space. The littlest Davis girl had somehow flipped upside down in her sleep; her feet were in her sister's face threatening to kick. Alexis laughed at the sight; this was one of the reasons why neither she nor Sam wanted to share a bed with the young child. Since Kristina had become quite the curmudgeon since turning thirteen, Alexis figured she'd get her just deserts served by sharing a bed with her little sister for a few days._

_She walked over to Kristina's side of the bed. She slowly lifted Molly's feet away from her sister's face. Alexis then passed her hand on her middle daughter's cheek._

_--- "Sweetie, it's time to wake up."_

_Kristina opened one eye and looked at her mother; it was clearly ridiculously early seeing as the only light entering the room was coming from the lamp._

_--- "Mom! Leave me alone. I'm tired. Go away."_

_Alexis sighed. Even though Kristina did not give her any problems other than her attitude, she still could not take it; especially not at five in the morning._

_--- "Kristina, lose the attitude. You need to wake up and go take a shower. We're going out."_

_Kristina recognized the tone in her mother's voice; it was the 'do as I say, or suffer the consequences later' tone. Kristina opened both eyes to glare at her mother before getting up and walking towards the bathroom._

_Alexis looked at her watch, it was 5:15; it never ceased to amaze her how quickly time flew when she was pressed for it._

_--- "Do not lock the bathroom door, I need to get your sister ready at the same time. We don't have a lot of time."_

_Kristina turned and stared at her mother._

_--- "Um, no!"_

_Alexis was already getting annoyed with her daughter._

_--- "Kristina, you have the master bathroom, it has both a tub and a shower. The other bathroom doesn't have a tub! While you shower, I'll give Molly a bath. I already told you that we're pressed for time!"_

_--- "No, I want some privacy."_

_Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter. _

_--- "Whatever, hold on then."_

_Alexis tickled Molly's foot._

_--- "Baby, get up."_

_Molly woke up without much difficulty. Of the three, Molly tended to be the easiest to wake up. She smiled at her mother; her dimple showing._

_--- "Hi, Mommy."_

_--- "Hi baby, come with me."_

_She lifted Molly up, and carried her to the other bathroom. She looked at her watch; it was 5:11. The shower was not running. She smiled, happy that for once Sam had actually listened and gotten out of the shower when asked. She knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for an answer._

_Sam was sitting on top of the toilet lid, fast asleep, with her toothbrush hanging from her mouth. She shook her daughter awake, careful to keep some distance from her legs._

_--- "Jesus Christ Samantha! I told you to get in the shower!"_

_Sam rubbed her eyes._

_--- "Sorry! I'm tired!"_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "Come with me."_

_She took Sam by the hand and led her to the master bedroom. Kristina was lying on the bed._

_--- "Kristina, go take a shower in the other bathroom."_

_Kristina got up and left the room. _

_--- "Sam, you shower, and I'll give Molly a bath in the tub."_

_Sam was confused._

_--- "Wait, what?"_

_Alexis pushed Sam into the bathroom and pointed out that there was a tub and shower in there. _

_--- "You shower, Molly bathes."_

_--- "And why exactly didn't you have Kristina in here instead of me?"_

_Alexis sighed._

_--- "Because your sister is being ridiculously stubborn right now, and we need to get out of here by 6! I don't have time to deal with her teenage hormones and her sudden need for privacy. I'm telling you, next time she's sick, we'll see how she acts. Now humor me Samantha, just get in the shower, and I'll bathe this one. I'll even step out so you can get into the shower, whatever; we just need to be out of here in 40 minutes."_

_Sam did not much care either way; she just wanted to know what was going on. After the life that she had led, she was not particularly self-conscious._

_--- "Mom, really, I don't care. You took care of me in the hospital for pete's sake; the many times I've landed in there. I just wanted to know what Krissy's problem was."_

_Alexis was relieved that at least two of her daughters were not giving her any problems; at least not yet._

_--- "Thank you!"_

_Alexis quickly got Molly undressed and got her into the tub, while Sam jumped into the shower._

_--- "Mommy, where are we going?"_

_Alexis did not want to say anything to her daughter; it was a surprise. Instead, she decided to lie to the six year old._

_--- "We're going to the museum."_

_Molly was not pleased with this revelation at all; she hated the museum._

_--- "I'm not going to the museum."_

_Alexis stopped bathing the child and looked at her; she could almost sense the calm before the storm._

_--- "Baby, you don't have a choice; you're going where we take you."_

_The littlest Davis crossed her arms in front of her._

_--- "NO! I'm NOT going!"_

_Alexis rinsed Molly off, stood up and grabbed a towel; she held the towel open for her. She was not about to argue with her daughter about a fake trip._

_--- "Molly, let's go; come out." Alexis said sternly._

_Molly was getting agitated._

_--- "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE MUSEUM!"_

_Sam turned off the water to hear how this showdown between her mother and youngest sister would play out._

_--- "Mom, pass me a towel, please."_

_Alexis never took her eyes off her youngest daughter, who refused to get out of the tub, as she handed a towel to Sam._

_--- "Molly, you do not raise your voice to Mommy. Do you hear me?"_

_Molly crossed her arms and pouted._

_Alexis held open the towel once again._

_--- "Molly Davis-Lansing, get out of the tub, this instance."_

_Instead of doing as she was told, Molly sat back down in the tub. Sam wrapped herself in the towel and stepped out of the shower. She stood to watch her sister's tantrum unfold; without taking her eyes from Molly, Alexis addressed her._

_--- "Samantha, go get dressed."_

_Sam did not argue, she just left and did as she was told; she could sense that her mother was in no mood to be disobeyed by all three of her daughters._

_--- "Molly, if you do not listen to me, I guarantee you that you'll be sorry."_

_--- "I'M NOT GOING TO ANYMORE STUPID MUSEUMS! THEY'RE BORIIIIIIIIIING!"_

_That last syllable was exceptionally shrill. Alexis was tired of her young daughter's attitude. She walked right up and yanked the child up from the tub, kicking and screaming, and wrapped her in the towel. She grabbed Molly's toothbrush and carried the child to the other bedroom._

_Alexis grabbed her cell phone from her purse. She opened the phone and found Viola's number. She showed Molly the phone display before putting the phone to her ear; the child recognized the name of the intended call recipient._

_Molly had tears in her eyes. Even though she didn't want to go to the museum with her family, she did not want to be separated from them; she knew that if her mother was calling Viola, she was doing so because she would need her to watch her._

_--- "I'm sorry, Mommy."_

_Alexis shook her head, and walked the child to the bathroom; Kristina was getting out of the shower._

_--- "Kristina, out."_

_Kristina was about to protest the invasion of her privacy, but she saw the look on her mother's face. She just walked out of the bathroom._

_--- "Hi Vi. I'm sorry to be calling you so late, but I need you to fly to Paris right now; I'll get you the private jet. I need you to watch Molly for me. I've got a wonderful family outing planned that she does not want to take part in, so you're going to have to stay with her. Great, Thank you, I'll see you in a few hours."_

_Alexis hung up the phone, and lifted Molly onto the toilet; she needed her to stand up on it so she could easily brush her teeth. She would've let Molly do it herself, but the child took too long, and wasted a ridiculous amount of toothpaste in the process._

_--- "I said I'm sorry, Mommy."_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "I forgive you, Molly, but Viola's still coming. Open your mouth."_

_The tears fell to the little girl's face as her mother brushed her teeth._

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_By some miracle, Alexis was able to get everyone checked out of the hotel at six. She and her three girls, with Molly clinging to her mother, got to the train station and onto the train without any difficulty._

_The train ride was pretty short, but all three girls fell asleep; despite having her own seat, Molly slept on her mother's lap the entire ride. When they exited the station, Alexis dragged her exhausted daughters to the line waiting for a cab. Being that it was so early, they queued quickly and got into a cab._

_--- "Where do you want to go, Madam?"_

_The cab driver spoke to her in English assuming that she did not know French. To conceal where they were headed, Alexis replied in French._

_--- "Je ne voulais pas dire le nom du place, parce que c'est un surprise."_

_The driver immediately understood where she wanted to go; she did not have to say the name of the place, just telling him that it was a surprise was sufficient information. She told him only which hotel they would need to go to when they arrived; he set the meter and drove towards the destination._

_Within 15 minutes he was pulling up to the gates of the happiest place on earth. While the other girls were excited as can be (most of all Sam, since she had never been to Disneyland before), Molly's eyes bugged out of her head; her eyes welled with tears. The poor thing buried her face in her mother's chest._

_--- "Mommy, I'm sorry I had a tantrum! Please don't make me stay in the room with Viola! I want to go with you and Sam, and even Kristina, even if she's mean all the time!"_

_Alexis looked at her daughter._

_--- "No more tantrums."_

_--- "I promise!"_

_--- "Okay. Sam, hand me your phone please."_

_Sam gave her mother her phone._

_Alexis dialed Viola's number and put the phone to her ear._

_--- "Viola, I'm so sorry about calling again. You don't have to come anymore; Molly has decided to behave. Thanks."_

_Alexis hung up the phone and handed it back to Sam who had a puzzled look on her face with a wink._

_Sam opened the phone and checked the last dialed number; it was Lucky's from two days prior. Sam looked at her mother, chuckled and shook her head._

_Molly did not have a single tantrum the remainder of the trip._

_**End of Flashback**_

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Patrick continued to work on the child, he refused to give up on her; it had been 15 minutes. The others in the room were losing faith.

--- "Dr. Drake, we've lost her."

Patrick ignored the anesthesiologist.

--- "NO, we haven't!"

He put the paddles back on her chest again.

--- "NOW CLEAR DAMN IT!"

Still nothing.

Robin did not want to believe that this little girl was gone either, but it had been 15 minutes; only a miracle could bring her back.

--- "Patrick, it's over."

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_--- "You don't know?"_

_Kristina shook her head._

_--- "Baby, I can't tell you if you're going to stay with me or not. It's not up to me."_

_Molly wanted an answer; she hated being left out of the know. She wanted to see her mother, Sam, and Kristina._

_--- "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!"_

_Kristina, even though she had just met the child, knew that a tantrum was imminent; Molly, Sam, and Kristina shared the same temperament. She tried her best to diffuse the situation._

_--- "Baby, I need you to calm down."_

_Molly glared at the kind-hearted aunt she had never known, but knew so much about. She had been taught to respect her elders, but she longed to be with her family._

_--- "DON'T CALL ME BABY! I DON'T KNOW YOU! I WANT TO GO HOME! NOOOOOOOOOOOW!"_

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As Alexis hugged her girls, she felt like her heart exploded in her chest. The feeling was so intense she passed out.


	5. Connections

**This is super short compared to the length of my normal chapters. This is TECHNICALLY still Chapter Four, but certain demonic people, and bargainers, were incapable of waiting a few more hours, so they got a cliffhanger instead. Here it is, as promised, the ending of Chapter Four, which we'll call Chapter Five, anyway.**

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**Chapter Five**

**Connections**

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Patrick refused to give up on the child despite his wife's medical opinion.

--- "Robin, imagine that this were Emma on the table? Would you want some doctor to just give up on her?"

Robin had tears in her eyes because she remembered when Molly was born; she helped bring her into the world. It was difficult to think that she now might actually be watching the child depart from the world. She nodded her head.

--- "Charge to 500."

Patrick looked at his wife as he placed the paddles on Molly's chest. They locked eyes, and warned the other doctors and nurses at the exact same time.

--- "CLEAR."

* * *

The force of Molly's scream threw her backwards and away from her aunt Kristina. She felt as though she was going through a tunnel, but in reverse. It was a thrilling yet terrifying experience. As she travelled, her life flashed backwards like a rewinding movie; it was an astounding thing for an eight year old to witness. She felt at peace as she traveled to her destination.

**_Flashback_**__

Four year old Molly, while being babysat by Sam, had been playing in her Kristina's room when she knew that she was not supposed to be. Her sister's class pet, a hamster, was spending the week in the Davis household. Molly loved animals. She had begged her mother to allow her a pet of her own, but her mother refused, claiming that she was not yet responsible to care for it. Molly decided that she would show her mother who wonderful she was with animals.  
Molly walked out to the living room, where Sam was reading a magazine.

--- "Sammy, can I ask you a question?"

Sam wanted to correct her sister's English, but she figured that she'd leave the proper English nagging to their mother.

--- "What's up, clone?"

--- "What do hamsters eat?"

Sam thought for a second.

--- "I think they eat a lot of the same things that we eat."

Molly smiled.

--- "Oh okay!"

Sam could tell that her sister was up to something. Alexis had forgotten to tell Sam before she took Kristina to a doctor's appointment that her sister had just gotten the pet from school that afternoon.

--- "Baby, why do you want to know?"

Molly knew that Sam did not know about the hamster.

--- "Um, I'm just curious."

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Are you hungry, my little hamster?"

Molly nodded.  
--- "Well, what do you want to eat?"

--- "M&M's!"

Sam picked her tiny sister up and walked to the kitchen.

--- "Um, that's not good for hunger, baby."

--- "How about a cheeseburger and fries?"

Sam shrugged.

--- "Works for me!"

She picked up the phone and dialed to Kelly's for an order of cheeseburgers and fries.

When the food was delivered, Sam and Molly pigged out. When Sam was not looking, however, Molly ripped a piece of her cheeseburger and put it in her pocket; she added some fries in there as well.

--- "I'll be back!"

--- "Where you going, clone?"

--- "To the bathroom!"

Molly jumped out of her seat and ran straight to her sister's room, making sure to close the door behind her.

--- "Here you go Chip n' Dale!"

She gave threw the piece of cheeseburger meat and fries into the hamster's cage.

--- "I would've brought you some of my milk shake, but it would've made a mess in my pants."

Molly ran back to the kitchen, leaving the hamster to enjoy his meal.

An hour later, Kristina and Alexis came back from the doctor; Sam and Molly were playing a game of Go-Fish.

--- "Hey girls. Sam thanks for babysitting."

--- "Hey Mom; it's not a problem. Mol's an angel."

Kristina ran to her room to check on the hamster. Sam was curious to know why her sister ran out of the room.

--- "Why's she in a hurry?"

--- "Oh, I forgot to tell you that she's got a hamster here for a week."

Sam looked at her little sister suspiciously. Before she could say anything to her, Kristina ran into the room with the hamster cage.

--- "MOMMY! HE'S DEAD!"

Alexis was not a fan of rodents, so she looked at it from a distance.

--- "What's that orangeish kind of stuff on it's mouth?"

Sam glared at her sister; Molly ran out of the room before she thought anyone could suspect her of killing the school pet.

**End of Flashback**

Molly felt like she was freefalling. She flailed her arms around, and attempted to scream but she had no voice. She looked down and noticed herself on the operating table. Suddenly she was falling so quickly that she thought she would crash. When she looked down again, she saw herself, on the table, jolting upwards.

* * *

She felt a radiating sensation in her heart just before the feeling of an explosion inside of her. Alexis put her hand to her chest and crumpled to the floor.

--- "Oh my God, MOM!"

Epiphany called for help over the intercom before running to help the woman.

She put her two fingers to Alexis' neck to check for a pulse; it was strong and regular. Alexis clearly did not have a heart attack. Epiphany reached in her pocket for the smelling salts she kept in there for times like this. She passed the bottle under Alexis' nose; Alexis came to right away.

--- "Mom, are you okay?"

Alexis looked up and in a blurry haze saw who she believed to be Molly looking at her.

--- "Baby, I'm glad you're alright."

Sam frowned at her mother.

--- "Mom, I'm Sam; I'm not Molly."

Alexis' vision began to clear; she realized that it was Sam in front of her. Kristina was sitting on the floor beside her sister.

--- "Mom, are you okay?!"

She felt like everything was spinning around her; she felt as though she were falling. If she had not known that she was already on the floor, she would've thought that she were about to crash onto the ground.

Alexis started felt goose bumps rise on her arms. She quickly sat up.

--- "Oh my God."

* * *

--- "We've got a heartbeat!"

Patrick was rejoiced.

--- "Welcome back sweetheart!"

Molly's heart rate shot back to normal as though it had never stopped.

--- "Ok, let's get her injuries taken care of, so we can close her up. I want her to have a CT  
Scan; we need to make sure that she's got normal brain function. From the looks of things, I have to say that this kid is going to make a full recovery."

* * *

  
Kristina and Sam helped their mother up from the floor.

--- "Mom, are you sure you're alright."

Alexis took Sam's face in her hands; she gave her a kiss on either cheek. She did the same to Kristina.

--- "I feel her."


	6. Recovery

The story is fully summarized… It will be updated as I get to it. My externship starts Monday, along with my full week of classes, so bear with me. I'll definitely make sure to update at least once a week, maybe more in the beginning of the semester.

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**Chapter Six**

**Recovery**

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Alexis sat patiently, and certainly much more calmly, with her daughters as they awaited news about the surgery. Sam had a sense of relief once her mother said that she felt Molly again; it was no secret that mothers tended to have certain profound connections with their children. Her mother was clearly no exception to this rule; she had this gift from nature.

--- "Mom, are you positive that you felt her?"

Alexis put her face in her hands for a second before she turned to look at her eldest daughter.

--- "Honey, I don't know what that was, the thing that caused me to pass out, but I do know that as soon as I came to, I felt her. I know that she was in trouble; something went wrong in the surgery. But, I also know that my baby is a fighter. Sam, you know your sister; she's like you! When you were stabbed, I knew that something was off; I felt it. Then out of nowhere, I felt a chill run through me, and I knew that you'd be fine. This is the same thing. Your sister will be fine."

At that moment, Alexis saw Patrick walking toward them; she stood up to greet him.

--- "Well, Patrick, how's my baby; how's Molly?"

Patrick paused before answering as he was not sure if he should tell her that Molly coded on the table, and that it took fifteen minutes to bring her back. However, as a parent, he decided that he would want to know about everything and anything that happened with his child.

--- "I'm not going to lie to you Alexis, it became difficult surgery; more difficult than it should have been. As you know it took significantly longer than we had anticipated—"

Alexis remained calm as she listened to him speak.

--- "Well, during the course of the surgery Molly's heart stopped—"

Patrick expected some form of an outburst from Alexis, instead the reaction came from her two daughters beside her.

Kristina began to cry at the thought that her little sister's heart had stopped; Sam, who was herself shocked, gasped, but remained as strong. She moved to console her sister.

--- "Sweetie, it's okay. Let's not panic yet."

Alexis remained calm as she reached in her pocket and handed Kristina a tissue.

--- "Here, Krissy. Patrick, I know that my daughter's alive—"

Patrick nodded.

--- "Yes, Molly's alive. Like I said, her heart stopped. We shocked her for 15 minutes—"

Both Kristina and Sam gasped again. Sam took a deep breath, willing the threatening tears filling her eyes to remain at bay. Alexis, still calm, wrapped her arms around both girls.

--- "OK, I'm no doctor, but I know that a person being out for fifteen minutes without oxygen—"

Patrick nodded again.

--- "Typically a person being without oxygen for so long because they're technically—um, technically the person is not longer living at that point."

Alexis let out a breath before asking Patrick the question that most terrified her.

--- "Is my daughter brain damaged?"

Patrick shook his head and smiled.

--- "Alexis, I've never seen anything like this before in all my years of practicing medicine. Like I said, Molly was gone for fifteen minutes, when she finally made it back to us, her heart beat was so strong that a person who had not been in the room with us at the time would have ever believed that she had arrested. I didn't want to come out here, after the surgery and tell you that she arrested without knowing whether or not there was any damage, so I had a CT Scan done—"

Alexis put her hand to her chest. Her heart was beating exceptionally fast.

--- "And?"

Patrick's smile grew.

--- "Alexis, that little girl of yours, I don't know how she did it, but she's fine! She beat ginormous odds by coming back to life after fifteen minutes, and by doing it without any damage done to her brain. I repaired the internal bleeding from the accident, and I expect her to make a full recovery."

Alexis hugged her girls tightly. She was beyond relieved by the news.

--- "When can I see her?"

Patrick held his hand outwards toward the corridor.

--- "I'll take you to her right now."

* * *

Lucky could not sleep all night. He rolled over and looked at the clock; it was two in the morning. When he had called Sam to check on her family, she told him that Molly had been vomiting blood so they rushed her to the hospital. When he told her that he was on his way, she told him not to worry, she would keep him informed; that was hours ago. Lucky still had not heard anything about Molly from Sam. He tried calling her several times that night, but to no avail; Sam was either not responding, or the phone was off and sending him to voicemail.

Lucky decided that he would go to the hospital and give his support to the woman he loved. He quickly dressed and left the house.

In order to get to General Hospital from his house, Lucky passed Sam's building. As he drove the route to the hospital, several fire trucks sped passed him. Lucky thought nothing of this occurrence until he finally arrived at Sam's block; there were half a dozen fire trucks and ambulances surrounding her building, along with dozens of the building's residents outside in their robes and pajamas.

He pulled his car over and ran to the barricade the police and firemen made to prevent residents from attempting to enter the building. He pulled out his badge and approached one of the men.

--- "Hi, I'm Detective Lucky Spencer. What happened here?"

--- "There was an explosion in one of the apartments on the third floor."

Lucky's heart sunk.

--- "Oh my God, that's Sam's floor; my girlfriend lives there!

--- "What apartment does she live in?"

--- "346."

--- "That was the apartment where the explosion occurred. We didn't find her in there—"

--- "Yea, no, she's with her family at the hospital. There was a car accident. Do you know what caused the explosion?"

The fireman shook his head.

--- "No, I'm sorry but we don't; we got the fire from the explosion under control, but the apartment and those adjacent to it were destroyed. We're going to begin our inspection in a few minutes. Unfortunately, if you're not the owner of the apartment, we won't be able to release any information to you; when our investigation is done, the police will get a report on the matter."

Lucky nodded his head.

--- "I understand. But can you tell me if anyone was hurt?"

--- "Luckily, no. There weren't any people in the apartment above hers, and those below her apartment smelled gas, so they evacuated and warned their neighbors before the actual explosion occurs. We actually arrived a few seconds after the explosion happened."

Lucky was relieved that nobody had been hurt. He needed to tell Sam what happened.

--- "Thank you."

Lucky walked away from the scene concerned.

* * *

Alexis, Sam, and Kristina walked into Molly's room. The littlest Davis did not look bad for someone who had arrested on the table for 15 minutes, or just had surgery for intra abdominal bleeding.

--- "Oh, my baby looks like she's asleep; God, she looks better than us, right now!"

Patrick nodded his head and smiled at Alexis' joke; it was pretty late. He was still in shock over the fact that the child recovered the way she had from what was typically a debilitating, if not fatal, cardiac arrest.

--- "Yea, you certainly have a fighter on your hands."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "See Mom, I told you; Molly's a little scrapper."

Alexis squeezed her daughter's hand.

--- "So she'll be fine?"

Patrick smiled.

--- "Yes. There's nothing that should stop Molly from making a full recovery."

Alexis gave her girls a hug and kiss; that was the best news that she had received.

--- "Thanks Patrick. When can we bring her home?"

--- "Not a problem Alexis. Since we performed, with the use of a camera, exploratory surgery, we found and repaired the internal bleeding with a laser—"

Alexis was shocked.

--- "Are you sure you got everything? I mean, I'm certainly not happy that my eight year old had to have surgery, and I'm glad you didn't have to cut her open, but was that the best way to do the surgery?"

--- "Believe me, Alexis, I would not have done it that way if I didn't believe that was the best and safest route. Fortunately, that was the surgery we had chosen because with her having arrested, if she would have been cut open, her little body would have gone into shock; I guarantee you that she would not have survived."

Alexis looked at her daughter; she was grateful that the child survived such an ordeal.

--- "Nonetheless, she is going to be in a world of pain when she wakes up—"

Kristina laughed.

--- "She's going to be a pain in the ass—"

Alexis smacked Kristina in the back of the head with her casted hand. Kristina rubbed her head in pain.

--- "OW! Mom, you've practically got a steel contraption on your arm; that cast isn't made from feathers! Ease up."

Alexis looked at where she had smacked Kristina, and kissed the area.

--- "I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't meant to hurt you. Just watch your language next time."

Kristina grumbled.

--- "Tell that to potty-mouth Sam over here."

Sam laughed and rolled her eyes.

--- "Well Patrick? When can we bring the munchkin home? And will she be driving us up the wall in pain?"

--- "She should be able to come home in the next two days. We want to monitor her heart and brain activity to be sure that everything is truly fine, but we have no doubt that Molly will be fine. As for pain, she'll be sore for a few days, and uncomfortable because of her broken arm, but I'll write you a prescription for her pain."

Just then Molly began to awaken.

--- "I want my Mommy…"

Alexis walked over to her daughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Baby, I'm right here."

Patrick pulled out his penlight and looked into Molly's eyes.

--- "Good. Now, baby, can you tell me your name?"

Molly looked at Patrick.

--- "Don't call me baby, you're not my Mommy or sisters."

The room erupted in laughter. Kristina sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed Molly's covered legs.

--- "I think it's safe to say that Mol's fine."

Sam smiled at her little clone.

--- "Baby, can you tell Dr. Drake your name?"

Molly was in pain; she wanted nothing more than to have this annoying doctor leave so that her mother could take care of her.

--- "Molly Davis-Lansing."

Patrick nodded his head.

--- "Good girl. What are the names of the people in the room?"

Molly was getting annoyed.

--- "This is STUPID! Go away."

Alexis stood up and pointed a finger at her daughter. Regardless of the fact that her daughter just came out of surgery, she was not going to allow Molly to be disrespectful.

--- "Molly Davis-Lansing, look at me."

Molly looked at her mother.

--- "That is unacceptable. I know that you're not feeling well, and you're probably in a little bit of pain, but you do not raise your voice at adults, and you do not disrespect Patrick, especially since he's trying to help you. You need to apologize this instant, young lady."

Molly looked down at her hands; she hated when her mother scolded her in front of strangers.

--- "But Mommy—"

--- "Molly, no buts; apologize right now."

Molly wanted to cry; she felt horrible and was embarrassed.

--- "I'm sorry, Dr. Drake."

Patrick nodded.

--- "It's okay—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "It is not okay, Patrick; she knows better than to be rude and disrespectful. Now Molly, answer Patrick's question."

Molly looked at her mother with tears in her eyes.

--- "Mommy, Sammy, Krissy, Dr. Drake."

Patrick wished that all of his patients' parents were like Alexis. This was not the first time that he had seen her discipline her daughters; when Sam all but cursed him out after her surgery, Alexis put her adult daughter in check. It was clear that Alexis, while loving with her girls, was strict as well.

--- "That's wonderful. How old are you?"

Molly was about to protest, but she saw the glare her mother gave her. She mumbled her answer.

--- "Eight."

Patrick put his penlight away; he was pleased with everything.

--- "She's going to be fine. I'll leave you here with her. She will be in pain, so we've got her on medication. Alexis you already know how to dispense it; it's the same as when Sam was here. It's a much lower dosage, of course, but you release it the same way."

For formalities sake, Patrick demonstrated it to her.

--- "Thanks Patrick."

When he left the room, Alexis sat on the bed beside her daughter; she passed her hand on her little cheek.

--- "Baby, I need you to not be rude to people who are trying to help you."

Molly was mad at Alexis and turned her face away.

--- "I don't like it when you embarrass me."

Alexis looked at her stubborn daughter.

--- "Well, Molly, I don't like it when you're rude; you know better."

Sam and Kristina looked at each other. Since Sam had been in the same position as her little sister, she decided to interject. She walked to the other side of the bed.

--- "Munchkin, you know how Mom is; you can't yell at people. You know, I got in trouble in front of Patrick the same way you just did too! But you know what, after thinking about it, and even though I hate to admit it, Mom was right to scold me because I knew better."

Molly's eyes widened.

--- "But you're a grown up."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Baby, it doesn't matter to Mom. We're her girls, and she expects all of us to respect all those around us. I don't get a free ticket because I'm an adult. You already see how much she bosses me around—"

Alexis interrupted.

--- "Samantha—"

Sam and Kristina laughed.

--- "See what I mean! She calls me Samantha whenever I'm in trouble."

Molly smiled at her sister.

--- "I have to deal with this all the time?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Yup. You have to deal with this forever!"

Sam leaned forward and gave her sister a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

--- "Understand, clone?"

Molly nodded her head, and turned to look at her mother.

--- "I'm sorry Mommy."

She lifted her arms up so that Alexis could give her a hug. Alexis gently leaned forward and embraced her baby.

--- "It's okay baby. I'm just so happy that you're okay."

At that moment, Lucky knocked on the door.

--- "Hi ladies, I'm sorry to interrupt."

Sam was happy to see him. She got up and walked to the door to greet him; she gave him a loving kiss. Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Would you two get a room? Nobody wants to see that!"

Sam looked at her sister.

--- "Krissy, if I were you, I wouldn't be talking; I've seen you doing far worse than this."

Kristina reddened at the memory. Alexis' head snapped to glare in the direction of her eldest daughter.

--- "Too far Samantha."

Sam shrugged.

--- "See, Mol. I'm sorry Mommy."

Alexis rolled her eyes and wagged her finger Sam, as Molly laughed.

--- "Samantha, that wasn't funny."

Sam smiled and walked over and gave her mother a hug and kiss.

--- "Forgive me?"

Alexis laughed and pushed her daughter away from her.

--- "I'm not the one you should be asking for forgiveness, silly."

She swatted Sam on the bottom as she pointed to her middle daughter.

Sam went over to Kristina. She gave her a hug and a sloppier kiss than she had given to Molly.

--- "GROSS SAM!"

Sam pulled Kristina to her again, and whispered into her ear.

--- "I'm sorry, Krissy; that was really a stupid thing for me to say."

Kristina nodded.

--- "Well, it was stupid thing out of the mouth of a stupid person."

Sam released her sister and glared at her; Kristina immediately laughed. Sam softly tapped her sister's cheek, before kissing her forehead.

--- "You're a goofball."

Lucky laughed at how happy Sam seemed to be with her family; he always loved to see the Davis girls interact. Sam excused herself from her mother and sisters to go speak with Lucky.

--- "Well, I see that Molly is doing well."

Sam sighed and shook her head.

--- "You have no idea what kind of scare she gave us, Lucky. She arrested on the table, but luckily, and I guess miraculously, she pulled through surgery. She should be coming home in two days."

--- "That's great Sam! Molly's like you, she's too strong and stubborn to ever go down without a fight."

Sam could tell that something was bothering Lucky.

--- "Honey, what's wrong?"

Lucky did not know how he was going to tell her about her apartment.

--- "Um, I have something to tell you—"

--- "Lucky, you're scaring me!"

--- "There was an explosion—"

Sam put her hand to her mouth; her mind was moving at a hundred miles an hour.

--- "WHERE?!"

--- "Your apartment."

--- "WHAT?"

--- "I drove by there about a half hour ago, and apparently something caused an explosion. I don't get what happened—"

--- "Was anyone hurt?"

--- "No thank God. Apparently, your neighbors smelled gas, so they evacuated just before the explosion. Sam I swear to you that I cleaned everything up, every single candle. I don't know what happened!"

Sam put her hands on Lucky's face.

--- "Honey, it's okay! I'm just happy that you didn't stay over! My God, if my family didn't get into that accident, both of us could've been there! We could both be dead right now!"

Lucky was relieved at that thought; at this point, he couldn't imagine his life without Sam in it.

--- "Looks like I'll be moving back home."

--- "Why don't you move in with me?"

* * *

The anesthesiologist, who had been on Molly's case, walked into his house after his exceptionally long, exhaustive, and terrifying night. He went into his children's rooms and stood at the doorway; they were in deep sleep. He was beginning to feel light-headed, so he went to his room to lie down beside his lovely wife.

He changed out his clothes and got into the bed. He wrapped his arms around her; she did not stir. He found that strange seeing as she was not a deep sleeper. He put his two fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse; she was dead. He jumped up to check on his children, but he became increasingly light-headed. Each step he took felt heavier than the last, until he fell to the floor.

* * *

**So little faith you had in me. [shaking my head]. Molly's too much fun to write for me to ever consider killing; she's safe… for now. **


	7. Refusals

Typed this in record time, in the middle of the night, while doing my laundry. I was going to wait until Thursday to post, but it's done, so why wait? At this rate of typing, your updates might be more frequent than I thought. We'll see after this first full week how well I can keep this up. Morning classes, externship, afternoon class(es)… home by 6:30-7, finish up any reading necessary for the next day, iron for externship, then type some more? Then sleep at 2. Hmm… We'll see. We'll just keep playing this by ear... Thursdays are my bar nights, commiserating with my friends, after the crazy week, so I might work on the chapters when I get home.

Just keep reviewing, and I'll keep spitting these bad boys out.

~Meliora.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Seven**

**Refusals**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_They had just made wild and passionate love in the bed she shared with her husband; it was not the right thing to do, but it was incredibly thrilling. _

_--- "I love you. I want you to leave your husband."_

_The woman looked at her lover. She loved him dearly._

_--- "And you, will you leave your wife?"_

_The man shook his head. Despite the problems that he may have had with her, he couldn't leave her._

_--- "You know I can't do that."_

_The woman got out of the bed and put her robe on; she was furious._

_--- "You want me to leave my husband, take my children, and then what? Live on my own with these kids wondering what happened to their father? And yet, you want to remain with your wife? You really are amazing; you know that? You get to bang her, and then come here and have a go with me. I'm sorry, but I don't think so."_

_She went into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind her._

_The man got up from the bed, dressed, wrote her a note, and left._

_He was dead a week later._

* * *

--- "Move in with you?"

Lucky nodded his head.

--- "Sam, I love you. I want you to marry me; by the way, you've yet to give me an answer."

Sam hoped that somebody would interrupt their conversation again, but unfortunately, it was not to be; she had to come up with an answer.

--- "Lucky, I love you too."

--- "I feel a but coming on."

Sam swallowed; she tried to come up with the best way to say what was on her mind.

--- "But, I'm not ready to marry you yet."

Lucky's face dropped.

--- "You're not ready to marry me?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "It's not that I don't want to marry you some day, but I'm not ready for all this right now. I mean, six months ago, hell, three months ago, we were broken up—"

--- "But we realized what a mistake that was, Sam!"

Sam nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, but the reason we broke up in the first place was because you thought that I risked my life too much. Lucky, look at me; six months ago, I was in a wheelchair! Three months ago when we started our relationship again, I was on crutches. Up until a few hours ago, I was using a cane to get around. I forgot it when I left the apartment, and even though my Mom has one for me at home, I've been walking around without it. Lucky, I'm the same person I was before I got stabbed; and I don't want to rush into marrying you until we can figure out whether or not you can accept that."

Lucky sighed. He had hoped that after everything that Sam had been through, that she would have learned her lesson after Jeff, and decided to stay away from dangerous situations. He was not pleased when she went back to the PI agency, but since she and Spinelli had hired investigators, because she could not do the fieldwork, Lucky was hopeful that Sam would remain at her desk.

--- "So you're going back to being an active PI?"

Sam knew that Lucky hated her job, but to be honest, she really did not care. Being a PI was the one thing, other than being a con, that she was good at. She was not about to give up her career for anything or anyone.

--- "Yea. As long as my physical therapist clears me, I'm going to slowly transition into it again."

Lucky shook his head.

--- "What does Alexis say about this?"

--- Lucky, I'm a grown woman. I don't have to run this by my mother—"

Lucky gave her a face.

--- "I didn't say anything to her yet. But, I know my Mom; she's going to be as supportive of my decision as she was when I first decided to become a PI. I'm not worried about her; I'm worried about you. With me going back to being a PI, where do we stand?"

Lucky leaned forward and gave Sam a kiss in the lips. He connected their foreheads together, and looked directly into her eyes.

--- "I honestly don't know."

He walked away, leaving Sam saddened.

* * *

_--- "I don't think it wise for you to disregard my warning to you. Your family's life is at stake here."_

_--- "Why do you want me to do this?"_

_--- "It isn't for you to ask questions. Just know that she can't survive. Here is an untraceable drug; you will inject it into her I.V. before they take her into surgery. If you do as I ask, your family will be fine. If not, let's just say, you'll have quite a mess to clean up when you get home."_

_--- "Fine. I'll do it. But please, don't hurt them."_

* * *

Alexis lied down with Molly, as Kristina fell asleep in the chair in the corner of the room; Molly has fallen asleep a few minutes after Sam left to go speak with Lucky. It was well passed two in the morning, but Alexis could not imagine leaving her daughter alone for the night. As she lied beside her youngest daughter, she stroked her hair, and hummed her a lullaby; she dared not attempt to sing, since she did not inherit her mother's vocal abilities.

Epiphany was still on the night shift, so she stopped by to check on Molly.

--- "Ms. Davis, I'm certainly not shocked to see you here."

--- "Hi Epiphany. No, I could not imagine leaving this little one here all night by herself. She'll be terrified to wake up by herself; I can't do that to her."

--- "I admire your dedication to your girls, Ms. Davis. Do you want me to get you a cot?"

Alexis smiled.

--- "I would appreciate that, Epiphany, thank you. I'm going to send the girls home. I don't want Sam to strain her back sleeping on a chair or trying to share a cot. As for Kristina, I think if I leave her to sleep that way, she'll hate me in the morning."

Alexis pointed to Kristina sleeping in the chair. Epiphany laughed.

--- "Yes, I think that's a safe assumption. She's already got a concussion, the last thing she needs is a strained neck."

Alexis shook her head and laughed.

--- "Yea, a strained neck for her, means a pain in the ass for me."

--- "With her concussion, she can't be left home alone; she still needs to be woken up every couple of hours."

--- "Oh, yeah, I know; she's definitely not staying home alone. Sam's more than likely going to spend the night at home, or take her sister to her apartment. Either way, neither of my girls is going to stay home by themselves."

Just then Sam walked back into the room. Alexis could immediately sense that she and Lucky had had some sort of disagreement.

--- "Honey, are you okay."

Sam fought back her tears, and shook her head. Alexis slowly got up from the bed, careful to not wake Molly. She walked toward Sam and held her arms out to her; Sam went into her mother's embrace. Alexis looked at Epiphany, who signaled to her that she would be back with the cot.

--- "Thank you." She mouthed to the kind nurse.

She turned her attention back to Sam. She took her eldest daughters face in her hands and wiped away her fallen tears.

--- "Honey, this is the second time in one night that you've cried in front of me. If you're not careful, I might think that you were actually getting soft."

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Never."

Alexis smiled at Sam and hugged her again.

--- "Honey, what's the matter? What happened with Lucky?"

--- "I think we've broken up."

Alexis pulled away from Sam and looked at her daughter for some form of logical explanation; it hit her.

--- "You told him that you weren't ready to get married."

Sam nodded.

--- "I told him that I thought we were moving too fast. Um, Mom, my apartment exploded--"

Alexis' mouth fell open.

--- "Wait, what? Excuse me? Samantha, that's a lot to drop on me. You're apartment exploded?"

Sam nodded again.

--- "I don't know what happened; Lucky just told me. If you guys didn't have the accident, I would've been there with Lucky. Mom, I could've been killed tonight."

Alexis pulled Sam to her again.

--- "Oh my God, I don't know what's going on to this family right now. I swear it's a series of cruel jokes. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm almost happy that we were run off the road!"

Sam looked up at her mother.

--- "Gee, thanks?"

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Ugh, I don't know. I think we need to go on vacation to some kind of secluded island for a few days because the cosmic Gods seem to be after us! I'm so grateful that you're alright… that we're all alright. Now, please, honey, tell me what happened with Lucky."

Sam began to pace the room, trying to think of the best way to let her mother know what happened.

--- "Okay, well, to start, I told him that I think that we were moving really fast in our relationship. We've only just gotten back together a few months ago, but he wants me to move in, and marry him. It's just too much, all at once! I mean, I was in a wheelchair six months ago, and like I told him, when we got back together, I was using double crutches to move around."

Alexis pointed at her daughter.

--- "Well, look at you now! You're moving around without a cane! Which, by the way, I disapprove of, since you haven't been cleared to do that, but we won't discuss that right now. So what's the problem?"

Sam stopped pacing and sighed.

--- "Mom, the problem is that the reason we broke up in the first place was because he didn't like that I was a thrill-seeking risk-taker!"

--- "What does that mean?"

--- "It means that once I'm cleared by Matt, I'm going to go back to doing fieldwork."

Alexis sighed. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Sam felt her mother was not pleased with her decision.

--- "You're not happy."

--- "Honey, I'm happy with whatever you choose to do, as long as you don't get hurt or killed. What I'm not pleased about is that fact that Lucky seemed to think that he could change the person you are."

Sam smiled; she was pleased with the fact that her mother was supportive of her decision to return actively to her work as a PI.

--- "I think he thought that having been paralyzed, that I was going to stay behind a desk all day. Mom, you know how much I hate that kind of work!"

--- "Sam, you don't have to justify anything to me; I knew you'd be returning to your active work as soon as you were able to."

Sam looked away from her mother, as she wiped a tear away.

--- "Yea well, I guess that only made two of us, because now he said he doesn't know where we stand."

Alexis walked over to her daughter and tapped her on the chin. Sam looked up at her mother.

--- "Honey, if that's the case, and he can't accept your decision, then he wasn't in love with the real you; he fell back in love with what he hoped would be a helpless or safe Sam. Honey, I know that even if you stayed in the chair for the rest of your life, you would've found a way to do your work actively. You're not a victim; you've always made lemonade out of lemons."

The tears continued to roll down Sam's face. Alexis held her daughter again.

--- "I guess I get to have my three girls under one roof again."

Sam laughed softly.

--- "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think you caused the explosion yourself, just to get me home."

Alexis laughed.

--- "I love you, honey, but not that much!"

--- "Gee, thanks!"

Epiphany walked back in the room with two orderlies who pushed the cot in.

--- "Here you go Ms. Davis."

--- "Thank you so much Epiphany, I really do appreciate it."

Epiphany shook her head.

--- "Ms. Davis, no thanks necessary."

She pointed to a sleeping Molly.

--- "If that child is anything like this one, the staff is indebted to you for staying."

Sam rolled her eyes at the nurse.

--- "I wasn't that bad Epiphany."

Both Alexis and Epiphany gave Sam a look of incredulity.

--- "Samantha, don't lie to yourself."

Sam shrugged.

--- "I don't think I was; I blame you anyway, Mom."

Alexis put her hand to her chest.

--- "Me? How is you being a rude brat to the nursing staff my fault?"

Sam looked at Epiphany.

--- "My mother spoils us and she knows it. She does everything for us when we're sick, but then when she's not around when we're sick, she claims to not understand why we're demanding and a little bit crabby. We're all accustomed to living a certain way."

Alexis nodded.

--- "She's right Epiphany. It really is partially my fault; although you would think that a grown woman, like my daughter would know better. Unfortunately, she doesn't. In fact, she runs home to me whenever she has the slightest cold."

Epiphany smiled.

--- "And this, Ms. Davis, is why I told you earlier that one would never know that you did not raise this child."

Epiphany waved goodbye to the women and left the room. Alexis laughed.

--- "She's right, you know. I tend to forget that I didn't know you all your life."

Sam nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, me too, but that's in the past. You're stuck with me now."

She yawned. Alexis passed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

--- "Honey, I think you and Kristina should get home."

Sam looked shocked.

--- "Huh? Why?"

--- Because you're obviously beat. Go home, Samantha, come back in the morning with a change of clothes and shower things for me, okay?"

Sam was exhausted, and her back was bugging her, although she would never admit that to her mother. So she agreed without a fight.

--- "Fine, but that one over there is getting no help from me."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Honey, just go home."

Sam walked over to Kristina to wake her up.

--- "Krissy, get up, we're going home."

Kristina was groggy, she put her hand to her head; it had begun to hurt again.

--- "What?"

Alexis walked over and put her hand out to her middle daughter to take. Kristina took it and got up from the chair.

--- "Sweetie, you're going home with Sam. I'm going to stay here with Molly tonight."

Kristina nodded her head sleepily before walking into her mother while trying to make her way to the door. Alexis stopped her from continuing to move. She gave her a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Sam, will you make sure to hold onto her, she's clearly half asleep. I don't want her stepping off curbs."

Sam gave Molly a gentle kiss on the forehead, and adjusted Mr. Plumber beside her, before giving her mother a kiss goodnight.

--- "Yea, yea, I've got her."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "And I don't want her sleeping in the same clothes she spent hours in the hospital in; that's disgusting. With our recent luck, she'll end up with some rare disease. Make sure she changes out of them."

Sam grabbed her sleepy sister and dragged her out the door.

--- "Goodbye Mother!"

Alexis ran to the doorway and called out to Sam.

--- "Honey, drive safely and I love you!"

* * *

The next morning, Patrick had a case waiting to go into surgery, but Dr. Hanlen had never come into work. Patrick went to the nurses' station to inquire on the anesthesiologists' status.

--- "Elizabeth, has Dr. Hanlen called to let anyone know that he was going to be late?"

Elizabeth checked the messages.

--- "No, there's nothing here. It's strange; he's always the first one here."

Patrick scratched his face.

--- "I know. Um, can you call his house for me?"

--- "No problem."

Just as Elizabeth was about to make the call, another call came in to the station.

--- "Nurse Webber, Fourth Floor…. Oh my God! … Thank you for telling me."

Patrick was worried over Elizabeth's reaction to the phone call.

--- "What happened?"

She shook her head in disbelief.

--- "He's dead. His whole family's dead!"

Patrick shook his head in disbelief.

--- "HOW?!"

--- "Carbon monoxide."

* * *

Alexis woke up to the smell of coffee; she craved some, but she hated the hospital's poor excuse for coffee; it was a cheap substitute to what she enjoyed from Kelly's. She rubbed her face and stretched.

--- "Oh my God, I could so go for a large cup of that."

Suddenly a cup was being waved in front of her face.

--- "Well, it's a good thing I stopped by then."

* * *

**Well? What do you think?? I'm working my ass off, people! LOL, Give me something! **

_To my regular reviewers, you know I love and appreciate you._

_And Thank you Demon for catching the Alexis "raining" mistype! LMAO._


	8. Trust

Ok, so I'm pooped; assignments done, nails done, hair done, clothes ironed, bag packed with those heavy books. This is a great way to wind down because I really felt overwhelmed by the day, and I love writing this stuff. This is really my escape from the work on my plate; that's probably why I update so often. I make sure to get the work down early enough to get to do this; I can't be all work and no play! LOL.

~Meliora

This is _somewhat _filler, but not really. This is unedited; I'm going to bed. I'll fix it when I get the chance.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Eight**

**Trust**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Sam was getting annoyed with her sister; Kristina was acting like an invalid. Sam had to drag her sister out of bed, and into the kitchen. Because Viola had been on vacation, the only things in their fridge were milk and condiments, water and juice. The cabinets were scarcely stocked but for canned products, cereal, tea and popcorn. As a result, the only option for breakfast in the house was cereal.

Sam placed the box, bowl, and milk carton in front of her sister.

--- "Can you manage to prepare yourself a bowl?"

Kristina had her elbow on the table, with her head being held up by her hand.

--- "Sam, come on, I don't feel well! Can't you make it for me?"

Sam looked at her sister as though she had lost her mind.

--- "Kristina, are you kidding me? Your hands aren't broken! What's wrong with you?!"

This had been an ongoing argument the entire morning with her sister. Kristina did not want to fix her bed, she was too sick, Sam practically had to lift her from the bed, because Kristina claimed she was too sick to eat breakfast in the kitchen; she wanted to have breakfast in bed.

--- "Krissy, I'm not serving you breakfast in bed. So, unless you want to starve up here, you can come down and eat whatever's in that kitchen."

Now that she was finally in the kitchen, Kristina gave Sam trouble over pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

--- "I really don't want this Sam."

Sam threw her hands up in the air.

--- "I swear Kristina, you're getting on my last nerve right now! The only reason you don't want the cereal now is because I don't want to serve it to you. If you would stop acting like a baby, maybe we can go to Kelly's and pick up something to eat; I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind having something to eat."

Kristina yawned.

--- "Can't we just order it, and they can deliver it?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Oh my God! Kristina, Kelly's is on the way to the hospital, where we have to go ANYWAY. So why in the world would we order food and have it delivered when we can just pick it up? God, you're being so difficult!"

--- "I don't think I want Kelly's anyway. I don't think I can handle it; my stomach kind of hurts."

Sam sighed deeply.

--- "You're fine! You're just a brat."

Sam took the cereal and poured it into the bowl in front of her sister. She then opened the milk and poured it onto the cereal; it was lumpy.

--- "There, I think that's good for your stomach."

She walked out of the kitchen.

As she was headed to her bathroom to shower, someone knocked on the front door; it was Nikolas.

--- "Hey stranger!"

She let Nikolas in; he had two bags of food from Kelly's. She gave him a hug and kiss out of happiness to see him, and gratitude for the food.

--- "I love strangers who come bearing gifts!"

--- "That's very funny. I heard about the accident last night. I'm glad Molly's doing well."

--- "Yea, the little munchkin's going to be fine, thank God. As for Kristina, I don't know, she's practically on her deathbed."

When Nikolas gave her a shocked look, Sam clarified.

--- "I mean that she's got a concussion, but you'd think it were something worse. She's impossible; I'm surprised she brushed her teeth herself this morning. Hold on, actually, I need to make sure that she's still alive in the kitchen."

Sam ran out of the room and into the kitchen. She came back a few seconds later dragging Kristina behind her who was wearing an oversized T-Shirt. Nikolas turned away because she didn't have pajama bottoms.

--- "Sam, she's not wearing bottoms. I don't need to see my cousin in her underwear."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Nikolas, relax, she's got a boy-shorts on. Kristina, sit; you're embarrassing Nikolas."

Kristina sat; she was too consumed with being sick to be concerned about being in a T-shirt and underwear with Nikolas in the house. Sam pointed to the food.

--- "Look Krissy, it's Kelly's food, thanks to Nikolas! So, you have two options: eat this, or eat the cereal in the kitchen with the lumpy milk—"

Kristina looked at her sister.

--- "Or I can just not eat at all."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Um, no. That's not an option at all. I'm not about to have Mom yell at me because you didn't have breakfast. I don't care which of the two options I gave you, but something is going into your stomach within the next minute."

Kristina took a napkin and placed it on her lap.

--- "I'll take Kelly's for $500, Alex."

Sam rolled her eyes at her sister.

--- "Yea, and saying hello to Nik would've been too much to handle as well, I guess. I suppose you want to do it for you, right?—Nik, Kristina says hello."

Nikolas laughed at the fighting between the sisters.

--- "I take it that Alexis isn't here."

Sam grabbed a container of food; she found the one with the strawberry pancakes that her sister was certain to eat.

--- "Here, I'm sure your stomach can handle this. – Nope, she's at the hospital. I was actually about to get ready to head over there when you stopped by."

Nikolas quickly apologized for his unannounced visit.

--- "I'm so sorry, I should've called first."

Sam grabbed a piece of bacon from her sister's plate.

--- "By all means Sam, help yourself to my food."

Sam took Kristina's fork from her hand and ate a piece of her pancakes.

--- "Thanks sweetie, don't mind if I do."

She turned her attention back to her cousin.

--- "Nikolas, it's fine! You saved me a trip to Kelly's actually. Do you want to go to the hospital with us? I'm sure Molly will be happy to see you! As a matter of fact, where's her gift?"

He smiled at his cousin.

--- "I can't go to the hospital because I have a meeting, but hold on—"

He put his finger up to tell her to hold on, as he ran to his car. He came back with a huge teddy bear and eight get well soon balloons. He sat it in an empty chair at the dining room.

--- "Um, Nikolas, that bear is Molly's size!"

He shrugged his shoulders.

--- "Well, I saw it, and I couldn't resist. I know how much she likes these things."

--- "I think she's going to like this thing more than Mr. Plumber."

Nikolas laughed as he remembered the story of that bear.

----- "Well, this one can't plug up runny behinds and all, as Mr. Plumber apparently can, but he can certainly make a little girl feel better."

* * *

_--- "You screwed up! Tell me why I shouldn't have you killed? I don't like it when people fail me! You were supposed to get rid of that middle one, I didn't even request you to kill her, just get her into that sickening ring of yours, out of this place; I'm sure she would've died soon enough anyway! Then I told you, I warned you that you could kill two birds with one stone by getting that runt daughter of hers, but you managed to screw that up to! You stabbed her, but she survived! What's wrong with you?!"_

_--- "Please, I can fix this! I'm getting out of here!"_

_The caller hissed on the phone._

_--- "How are you getting out? You're in a federal prison!"_

_--- "One of the agents, he's helping me. He wants in on the ring. I'm gonna be out of here by next week, the latest!"_

_The caller seemed pleased._

_--- "Fine, I'll give you one last chance. This time, I expect you to keep it in your pants! I don't care what you do after you take care of all this for me, but until then, you had better listen to everything I say."_

_--- "Of course… I'm sorry."_

_The caller filled Jeff in on what he was to do._

_--- "Understand? Do not screw up, or you'll lose your life."_

_Jeff swallowed hard._

_--- "I understand."_

_The caller hung up the phone, and dialed another number._

_--- "I need you and two other men to do me a coercive favor…"_

* * *

Agent Raynor was standing before Alexis with a cup of coffee. Alexis could not stand that man, but she was grateful for the gesture. She took the coffee from him.

--- "Thank you."

He smiled at her; she really was a beautiful women.

--- "You're very welcome, DA Davis."

Agent Raynor disgusted Alexis; she always felt as though he was undressing her with his eyes. She looked over at Molly, who was still sleeping soundly.

--- "What can I do for you?"

He shook his head.

--- "Nothing. I just heard that you were in an accident, and the PCPD is looking into it. Then I heard that your youngest daughter was more injured than originally believed, so I figured I'd stop by for a visit."

Alexis eyed him suspiciously.

--- "You came by to bring her coffee?"

He laughed.

--- "Certainly not, DA Davis; the coffee was for you."

--- "How'd you know that I was here?"

He laughed once more.

--- "I seriously doubted that you were going to leave your eight year old alone in the hospital all night. I've seen the way you care for your kids; I figured that you'd be here."

Alexis smiled slightly.

--- "Well, I suppose I have a reputation for caring deeply for my daughters."

He shook his head and smiled back.

--- "DA Davis, I believe you threatened me on more than one occasion because of your daughter, Samantha."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "You were trying to submarine her application to become a PI! I couldn't let you do that."

Molly began to stir in her sleep. Alexis put the coffee down and went to sit on her daughter's bed. She brushed Molly's hair from her forehead.

--- "She certainly does look just like Samantha."

Alexis nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, Sam calls her her little clone."

Molly woke up in pain; the poor things arm and stomach were hurting. She began to cry. Alexis adjusted the medication for her.

--- "Shh… baby, it's okay."

--- "Mommy, it hurts!"

Alexis wiped her daughter's tears away.

--- "What hurts baby, your stomach?"

Molly nodded.

--- "And my arm too."

Alexis took her daughter in her arms. She looked at her visitor.

--- "Thank you for coming Agent Raynor, and thanks for the coffee."

He put his hand up.

--- "Please call me Thomas, or Tom, DA Davis."

She smiled at him.

--- "Alexis."

He nodded and left.

Alexis turned her attention back to her baby girl.

--- "Aww, baby, let me buzz Patrick. We need to check your wound. Sammy and Krissy will be here soon; I'm sure they'll have breakfast! You're hungry, right."

Molly nodded.

--- "I'm hungry, but I don't like Patrick."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Baby, that's fine; you don't have to like him, but you need to be sure to respect him. I don't want you to be rude, no matter how much pain you're in. Do you hear me?"

Molly sighed, and nodded her head again.

--- "I don't want him to ask me anymore stupid questions."

* * *

--- "Kristina, COME ON! I'm not in the mood to deal with this!"

Sam was yelling at her sister to get out of the bathroom, and dressed so they could get to the hospital. She had practically dragged Kristina in there, and drew her a bubble bath, since her sister claimed that that would make her feel better. She rolled her eyes and left her sister to her bath; that was a half hour ago.

Sam was already dressed and showered, and her mother's bag was packed. The food from Kelly's was already cold, but she figured that she'd throw it in the microwave before they left the house. She was so annoyed with the way her sister was acting that she considered leaving the food cold as a punishment to her mother for leaving her to take care of Kristina.

Sam pounded on the door again, before opening it. Kristina was listening to her iPod, and soaking in the bubbles. Sam pulled the headphones from her ears. Kristina was shocked.

--- "What the hell Sam! GET OUT!"

Sam rolled her eyes, and threw Kristina a towel.

--- "So much for being sick!"

Sam stormed out of the bathroom. Kristina followed a few seconds later.

--- "I am sick!"

--- "Yea, you've got this crazy headache that doesn't stop you from listening to you iPod so damn loud that you couldn't hear me pounding on the door for the past ten minutes! That's how sick you are!"

Kristina rolled her eyes, and walked into her closet.

--- "Well, I don't appreciate you barging into the bathroom when I'm in there. I like my privacy."

--- "First of all, I knocked! I didn't barge in. Secondly, I didn't see anything, relax! Remember, I put more than enough bubbles in that damn tub for you! GOD, You kill me with this knocking and privacy business when NO ONE in this house EVER knocks on anyone's doors! My God, if there's a knock, it's a single one before you all just open the door, so I don't know what you're complaining about! This is a house full of women, Kristina. There's ZERO privacy here."

Sam was getting annoyed with everything. Her apartment was gone, her relationship with Lucky was on the rocks, her sister was being an idiot, her other sister was in the hospital, and she was stuck dealing with all of this. She loved her family, but she was losing her grip.

Her phone started to ring.

--- "HELLO!"

It was Alexis on the line.

--- "Honey, what's the matter? Is Kristina getting on your nerves?"

Sam sighed.

--- "You know it!"

--- "Put her on the phone."

--- "Fine."

Sam went into her sister's closet. Kristina was still wrapped in her towel; she was looking for something to wear.

--- "Here."

Sam handed her the phone and went down to the kitchen to heat up the foot to bring to Molly and Alexis.

As she put the phone to her ear. Kristina transformed into a sickly child again.

--- "Hi Mommy."

--- "Kristina, what are you doing to your sister?"

--- "Nothing."

--- "Kristina."

--- "Fine. She doesn't want to help me with anything! She wouldn't make me any breakfast, she practically killed me by trying to feed me rotten milk; thank God Nikolas came by and brought us food to eat—"

Alexis rolled her eyes on the other line; she knew that Kristina could be melodramatic whenever she was sick.

--- "Did you shower, yet?"

--- "Yea, and she barged in!"

Alexis rubbed the bridge of her nose.

--- "So?"

--- "So? Mom, I was in the tub!"

--- "Let me guess? In a bubblebath, with your headphones on your head, the music was blasting so loudly, you wouldn't have heard whether or not your sister knocked."

Kristina was silent on the line.

--- "That's what I thought, Kristina. You complain about privacy honey, when you refused to dress yourself yesterday! You made your sister take care of you. If it's not her, then it's me. Like I always tell you girls, I don't mind taking care of you; it's my privilege as your mother. The only thing I ask of you is to not be difficult about it! Kristina, stop being a brat. Do you hear me? Sam doesn't have to do all that she's doing for you; she does it because she loves you. You let her because you trust her. Stop being difficult with her. She's got a lot going on right now. Do you understand me?"

--- "Yes."

--- "Good, now get dressed because I'm sure you aren't, and get over here; your sister and I are starving."

* * *

**Now make an overwhelmed and already stressed student happy by reviewing. Let me know at least what you think about where we're headed… **

**We're going to be intertwining…**


	9. Similarities

Okie Dokie, Turkey Lurkeys! I'm done reading for class tomorrow, my clothes are ironed, my bag's packed, I'm tired and stressed, but showered and lounging on my couch in my comfy HS gym shorts (they're SUPER comfy, and still fit!) and t-shirt, lol. Let's get writing!

I LOVE your reviews; they're fabulous. I love it when you try and figure out what's going on, sometimes you're completely right, or completely wrong, or just partially… hmm… I guess it'll all come to the light eventually.

For now, since I promised _something_ tonight, but I don't have time to go past the shallow side, you shall remain in the drowning in the darkness of the depth of the ocean with another filler chapter! You like them, right?

~Meliora

Tis a short, fun, and unedited chapter my friends… I'll fix any errors over the weekend.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Nine**

**Similarities**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Alexis and Molly were more then happy to finally be able to leave the hospital. Molly was excited to leave since it meant that she would be sleeping in her own bed again, and the stupid doctors and nurses would no longer be poking and prodding at her anymore. Leaving the hospital and those doctors meant that her mother wouldn't yell her at every hour whenever someone came into the room to check on her.

_**Flashback**_

_Epiphany knocked onto the door the first full day Molly had been in the hospital. Alexis and Molly were sitting in the bed together reading a book, while Sam lounged on her mother's cot flipping through the television selections, and Kristina moped in the corner about having to spend the day in the hospital._

_--- "Ah, we've got a full house in here."_

_Alexis closed the book._

_--- "Hi Epiphany. Yea, we're all keeping this little one company here."_

_Epiphany noticed the garbage can was filled with food containers._

_--- "And I see you enjoyed breakfast and lunch? You all don't care for General Hospital's finest cuisine?"_

_Sam laughed._

_--- "That's funny; I wouldn't feed this hospital's food to my dog."_

_Molly was getting annoyed because her mother decided to close the book at her favorite part; the King had his fifth wife beheaded! Alexis was not a fan of reading those types of books to her daughter, but since it was history, she figured that she would learn the stuff anyway._

_--- "Sammy, you don't even have a dog! And if you did, it would probably be dead anyway because your apartment exploded."_

_Sam rolled her eyes at her little sister; Sam was still in a bad mood from Kristina's antics that morning, so hearing about her apartment going sky high was a bit of a sore subject for her._

_--- "Thanks for the visual Mol. You're a gem."_

_Alexis tapped her daughter on the shoulder and spoke softly to her._

_--- "Molly, remember what I told you about being respectful?"_

_Molly began to pout._

_--- "But Mommy, I want you to finish reading the story to me! I don't want her in here."_

_Epiphany approached the cranky child._

_--- "Honey, I'm only going to be in here for a couple of seconds—"_

_Molly looked at her._

_--- "One… Two… You're still here."_

_Sam bit her lip to stop herself from screaming in laughter, but Kristina could not; Kristina loved when Molly turned into a little smart ass._

_--- "KRISTINA! Don't encourage her. Molly, that was rude!"_

_Kristina rolled her eyes while Molly shook her head._

_--- "No it wasn't! She said that she'd only be here for two seconds!"_

_Alexis shook her head. She pointed in Epiphany's direction._

_--- "Molly, her name is Nurse Johnston, and she's here to help you. If you don't want Epiphany in here, well, you can stay in the hospital longer and by yourself because I'm not spending more than the two days you're supposed to be here, here with you."_

_Molly stuck her bottom lip out and leaned into her mother, and stuck her arm out for Epiphany._

_--- "Here, bloodsucker."_

_Sam could not hold it in anymore; she had tears in her eyes from holding her laughter in. Kristina laughed out of her chair onto the floor._

_Before Alexis could reprimand her youngest daughter, along with her two cackling sisters, Epiphany put her hand up to her mouth and began laughing herself._

_--- "You know what, Ms. Davis, this child is just like her sister over there. Not only do they look alike, they both certainly make working here very interesting."_

_Alexis shook her head at the scene._

_--- "You're saved little girl."_

_Epiphany quickly drew the blood for the daily blood-work. Molly hated needles; by the time all the bottles were filled, she was sobbing._

_--- "Sorry baby-girl; I don't like taking blood from you either, but it's the only way to make sure that you're alright."_

_Molly took her arm back and hid her face in her mother's chest; Alexis held her and rubbed her back. Molly did not even bother correcting Epiphany to tell her that only the exclusive few could dare call her baby; she wanted Epiphany to leave with the feast of her precious blood._

_Epiphany smiled at the sight of this family; as Alexis held Molly on one bed, Kristina, who found her way to the cot, had laid her head on her older sister's shoulder._

_--- "Take care everyone. Unfortunately, little girl, you'll see me later."_

_Molly lifted her head up, scowled at Epiphany, and stuck her tongue out. She lifted her hand to make a gesture she had seen Sam make numerous times while driving, but Alexis grabbed it._

_--- "Don't you dare." She hissed in her daughter's ear._

_Epiphany shook her head as she was leaving._

_--- "Just like that one over there."_

_Kristina looked at Sam._

_--- "Wow, you made a serious impression on the staff here."_

_Alexis glared at her daughters on the cot. She got off the bed with Molly and shut the door so that no one in the hall could hear what might be misconstrued as verbal abuse on her three daughters._

_**End of Flashback**_

Sam walked into the room to find her mother and little sister dressed and ready to leave.

--- "I'm here to break somebody out of the hospital… I think I have the wrong room."

Molly nearly ran to her sister to stop her but Alexis pulled her back.

--- "Baby, weren't you just complaining that your tummy was sore? If you run, I guarantee you're not going to be happy. Samantha, come back here."

Sam smiled and came back into the room. She gave her mother and sister a kiss.

--- "Hey clone, don't you look happy for someone who gave us quite a scare?"

Molly gently hugged her sister; her mother was right, moving hurt.

--- "Sorry."

Sam pinched her sister's little cheek.

--- "Not necessary, clone."

Sam pulled out some papers from her back pocket.

--- "Mom, here you go; these are shorty-do-wop's discharge papers."

Alexis took the papers; she looked around.

--- "Um, where's Kristina?"

--- "She's waiting in the car; I'm parked illegally."

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "Samantha, I told you to stop doing that!"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Mom, you're the DA, they're not going to give you a ticket!"

Alexis' eyes widened.

--- "Give ME a ticket? Honey, I don't know if you remember, but my car was totaled."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "Yea, but you got a new one!" She flashed a key to a BMW in front of her mother's face.

Alexis put her hands on her hips.

--- "Samantha, I've been in the hospital for two days! How did I get a new car?"

--- "I guess I'm pretty good at forging your signature, and apparently, I look like you—"

Alexis smacked herself on the forehead.

--- "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

She pulled Sam to her and hissed loudly enough for her daughter to here, but softly enough so that Molly could not.

--- "You forged my signature and perpetrated yourself off as me?! That is illegal! It's identity theft! What's wrong with you! I swear, I don't understand you sometimes! I thought you left the conning in the past—"

Sam started laughing in her mother's face.

--- "Ease up Mom! It was a joke!"

Alexis glared at her eldest daughter.

--- "What about the key?"

Sam gave her mother a better look at it; it was really a bottle opener.

--- "Such little faith you had in me Mother, I'm hurt."

Alexis threateningly reached for her daughter's neck.

--- "AH! You drive me crazy!"

Just then, an orderly brought a wheelchair into the room.

--- "I hear a feisty little cutie pie is leaving us!"

Molly smiled at him.

--- "I am!"

--- "And what about your pretty mother, is she staying with us?"

Molly grabbed Alexis' hand protectively.

--- "No! She wasn't a patient here."

The orderly shrugged.

--- "Oh well! She's been so helpful, we would've loved to keep her."

Molly smiled.

--- "Mommy only helps her daughters. Tell everyone else to get their own."

The three adults laughed. The orderly tapped the wheelchair.

--- "Well, hop in!"

Molly looked at him sideways.

--- "Sam can walk now, she doesn't need the chair anymore."

Sam bent down to look at her sister.

--- "Baby, that's for you."

Molly whispered into Sam's ear.

--- "I can walk, Sammy; I think he has the wrong room."

Sam smiled at Molly.

--- "Baby, you have to ride in it when you leave; that's what they make you do at hospitals. It's a short ride, don't worry."

Molly rolled her eyes and allowed the orderly to help her into the chair. Alexis, noticing her daughter's new habit, whispered to Sam as Molly was wheeled out of the room.

--- "We have GOT to stop doing that."

Sam nodded her head.

--- "You said it yourself, she's a monkey. Personally, I blame you for her bad habits."

Alexis smacked her daughter in the back of the head with her casted arm before wrapping her arm around Sam's waist as they walked toward the hospital exit.

* * *

Also, I know I've been putting Kristina in the background a bit, but that's because I don't have anything for her to say right now! She was in the spotlight throughout Déjà vu, so I figured, let's give little Molly a chance.

**Do you miss Kristina? If so, let me know, and I'll include her more.**

Anyway, off to bed I go… Will I wake up to mucho reviews? I sure hope so! :o)


	10. Calling

UGH! Long day, Long Assignments. I hope it's good because I wrote it in 1.5 hours with a pounding headache. Here you go.

This is unedited...

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Ten**

**Calling**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_A messenger arrived at the woman's house; he handed her a letter._

_--- "Thank you."_

_She opened the letter up and read it._

'_If you're reading this my love, it's because I'm dead…"_

_The woman dropped the letter on the floor. She could not believe it; the love of her life was dead. Yes, she was married with children, but she did not love that man; he was forced on her. She had not chosen him to be the person whom she would want to spend the rest of her life with. The only man she really and truly loved was now… dead._

_She continued to read the letter._

_--- "I know that this must be shocking for you to read. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but so be it. My love, you will be fine. I do not want you to mourn for me. I want instead for you to remember all that we shared together. Find love again."_

_That's all he wrote to her._

_Attached to the letter was an address and a note indicating that she needed to go to there within the next three days._

* * *

Alexis sat at her desk staring at the large stack of files she needed to go through; she could not believe that so many cases had accumulated in the week that she had taken off to take care of Molly. She could have had Viola stay with her daughter, but she had vowed that since Molly had been kidnapped, that she would not have the nanny practically raise her daughter; as a result, Viola was given more time off, while Alexis adjusted her work schedule around Kristina and Molly. She did not have to worry about fixing her schedule around Sam as her daughter dropped by her office consistently.

Right on cue, Alexis heard a single knock on her office door, and Sam walked in.

--- "Knock, knock."

--- "Samantha, you are aware that by opening the door and entering before I invite you in defeats the purpose of you saying, 'knock, knock?'"

Sam shrugged and pulled the facing chair closer to her mother's desk.

--- "Hey, if you want me to leave, that's good and well, Mom; I'll just have to take this yummy lunch that I brought with me for us."

Alexis had been so consumed with work that she did not realize that it was noon, and her stomach was growling, almost pleading for some form of sustenance; she had skipped breakfast that morning.

--- "No! Gimme! Gimme! What did my favorite eldest daughter bring me?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea, now you're nice. Let's see here, I've some liver and beets, for you, and a cheeseburger and fries, with a banana milk shake, for me."

Sam handed her mother a closed carton of food.

--- "Thanks, honey; beets, hmm, my favorite."

Alexis opened the food up; she began to salivate at the sight of her Salisbury steak burger with sautéed mushrooms and onions.

--- "Honey, this looks absolutely divine. Thank you."

Sam smiled.

--- "Anything for my Mommy."

Alexis was about to dig into her meal when her cell phone started to vibrate. She looked down at it, rolled her eyes, and let it continue to ring. Sam was intrigued.

--- "Hmm, who's the guy you're hiding from?"

Alexis nearly choked on her burger. Sam opened a bottle of water and handed it to her. Alexis took a sip.

--- "What are you talking about, Samantha?"

Sam put her burger down, stretched, as though reaching for her mother's bottle of water, but grabbed the cell phone instead. Alexis got up and tried to grab the phone back from her daughter. Since her wrist was still broken, she was at a disadvantage to the two handed Sam.

--- "Samantha, give me my phone… Now."

Sam looked at the missed call, 'Do Not Answer'."

--- "Mom, seriously? 'Do Not Answer?' Now I'm curious—"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Nosey—"

Sam smiled.

--- "Sure, now I'm _Nosey_, whatever, who's the guy?"

Alexis grabbed the phone from her daughter when Sam loosened her grip on it.

--- "None of your business."

Alexis took her seat back at her desk. Sam took a bite out of her burger and thought about it for a few minutes before figuring it out.

--- "Oh my God! It's Agent Raynor!"

Alexis spit out the water she had been drinking; some of it splashing on her daughter.

--- "EWW!!! MOM! GOD! IN MY FACE! Jesus, I'm sorry about the phone, but EW! My lunch is ruined! THANKS!"

Alexis rolled her eyes and handed Sam a napkin, while she cleaned up the mess she created.

--- "Honey, I'm sorry. Relax, I'll take you to the MetroCourt right now; we'll get fresh burgers."

Sam wiped her face and smiled.

--- "I'm right, aren't I? Agent Raynor is calling you? He likes you; I know it, Krissy knows, hell, Molly does too!"

Alexis stopped what she was doing.

--- "Molly?"

Sam nodded.

--- "Yea, she told me how he came by the hospital to visit when she was there. He brought you a cup of coffee? How sweet is that!? He wants to cream you, Mom!"

Alexis pointed at her daughter.

--- "You're disgusting."

Sam laughed.

--- "So why aren't you picking up the phone?"

Alexis turned the tables on her daughter.

--- "Why aren't you picking up any of Lucky's calls?"

Sam was not ready to discuss her relationship with Lucky; she did not know what to do about him. She was working harder in physical therapy now that she stopped using the cane, and she was beginning to take small cases so that she could get back into the field; she knew that Lucky would always have a problem with her career. Sam was not going to give it up for anyone.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis knew it was a sore subject with Sam, but she never liked it when her daughter bottled up her emotions. As a Cassidine, this was a natural trait, but true to form, whenever Sam did this, she tended to do something self-destructive. Alexis needed for her daughter to talk about her feelings, even if she was unsure as to what they were.

--- "Samanatha—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "We're not discussing this."

Alexis grabbed her purse, and held up her phone before dropping it into the bag.

--- "Or this either."

* * *

_--- "Take him out."_

_The caller hissed on the phone._

_--- "Copy that."_

_The sniper took aim and shot the man right in the chest. The man fell over on top of the woman._

_The caller had been watching the action play out from a distance fuming at the man's inability to follow instructions. Picking up the phone again, the caller dialed._

_--- "You're up. I suggest you get this right because people who fail me tend to drop like flies."_

* * *

Agent Raynor was relentless, he wanted to get to know Alexis, but she was playing hard to get. He sensed her attraction to him from the moment they had met, but because he had basically blackmailed her daughter into getting information for him, otherwise she would never get her PI license, Alexis was disgusted with him. Despite all this, he was not giving up.

He picked up the phone again, and dialed her number.

* * *

Alexis and Sam walked into the MetroCourt and were quickly given a table. Although it was a full house that afternoon, and there were people ahead of them waiting, because Alexis was known as Jax's best friend, she always got preferential treatment. She always felt bad for jumping ahead of the line.

After they were seated, she excused herself from the table.

--- "Honey, I'll be right back, I need to run to the bathroom. Do you have to go?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "No Mommy, I'm fine. When I do have to go, I'll be sure to tell you."

Alexis smiled, shook her head, and left.

No sooner had her mother left that her cell phone began to ring. Normally, Sam would never answer her mother's phone, but she noticed that it was 'Do Not Answer.'

--- "Hello?"

The caller did not recognize the voice on the line.

--- "Alexis?"

Sam smiled.

--- "Agent Raynor. Fancy you calling my mother's phone. How may I help you?"

While he was not expecting Sam to pick up the phone, he figured if he could get in her good graces, perhaps her mother might give him a chance. All he wanted was a chance with her.

--- "Samantha McCall. How are you today?"

Sam rolled her eyes. She looked around to make sure that her mother was not coming; she knew that she only had a short window of time, so she had to make it count.

--- "What do you want with my mother? Why do you keep calling her? I swear to God, if it's some kind of game you're playing by trying to get some information out of the DA's office—"

Agent Raynor looked at the phone.

--- "Ms. McCall, are you threatening me?"

Sam could not risk going to jail; her mother would sooner kill her first before she got thrown in there… again.

--- "No, I'm just letting you know that I will not stand around and allow you to hurt my mother. Now, answer my question."

He sighed on the line.

--- "I think your mother is a beautiful woman, whom I'd like to get to know better."

Sam laughed.

--- "That's it?"

--- "What do you mean?"

Sam laughed again. Unfortunately, she spotted Alexis approaching, so she spoke fast."

--- "If you think you'll get her with that corny line, you're out of your mind. Try again."

Sam quickly hung up the phone and put it back on the table, but not quick enough to evade her mother.

Alexis came to the table and grabbed her phone. She looked at it and checked the last call and the length of the conversation; three minutes.

--- "Samantha! What the hell?"

Sam was busted. There was no point of trying to defend herself. She just shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

* * *

_The woman arrived at the address written on the note. She knocked on the door. A gentleman opened the door and invited her in._

_--- "We've been expecting you."_

* * *

**Make an exhausted student happy and review. Please and Thank you for reading!**

**GOOD NIGHT!**


	11. Safe Edited

_You know that LONG assignment I worked on last night that gave me a pounding headache? Well guess who had to present her case this morning? SURPRISE! Yours Truly. I kicked ass, OF COURSE. The professor was quite impressed with my passion… Score one for me! All that hard work paid off. _

_~Mel._

_I'm not promising a chapter tomorrow because it's Thursday, and Happy Hour is screaming my name! _

**_NOTE: I've increased the length of this chapter! My brain was totally fried yesterday, so I didn't get everything I wanted into this last night. All additions are, as usual, emboldened._**

**_THANKS for the congrats on my successful day in class yesterday! _**

**_PLEASE REVIEW or RE-REVIEW!_**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Safe**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Mac decided to stop by the Fusion office and take Maxie to dinner.

--- "Hi honey, how about you let your old man take you out for dinner?"

Maxie was exhausted from her day at work; she needed a break.

--- "Hey Mac; yeah, you don't even know how much you're saving my sanity right now. Spinelli, he was ---, you know what, forget it. Let me grab my bag."

Maxie and Mac walked into the MetroCourt and noticed Sam and Alexis having lunch at a table; rather, Sam was eating, but Alexis was pointing and clearly lecturing her daughter. Sam and Maxie were good friends; they were both practically cut from the same cloth. Maxie being the curious person that she was, decided that she needed to hear what was going on with the Davis women; before Mac could stop her, she was headed to the table.

* * *

Agent Raynor genuinely liked Alexis. He tried to get Alexis to give him a second look on more than one occasion, but she always shut him down. He regretted threatening Sam's livelihood; he knew that getting into good graces with a woman who protected her daughters more fiercely than the President's armored vehicles would be difficult after a stunt like that. It upset him that his own errors were the cause of this woman not wanting him.

He picked up the phone and dialed a local flower shop.

--- "Hi, I'd like to place an order for a dozen red roses to be sent to the home of Alexis Davis, 1530 Lakeview Terrace. The note should read…"

He thought about a line that might not seem too corny, as Sam put it.

--- "I want it to read, "I want you; I'll have you someday."

He knew that it was a bit forward and presumptuous, but Alexis had a track record for dating forceful guys; he figured that he'd give it a try.

* * *

Sam continued to absent-mindedly nod her head and eat as Alexis continued to lecture her in a low hissing tone; she made sure to look around the room every few minutes to ensure that nobody was listening to her conversation.

--- "… I don't know what gave you the right to pick up my phone, Samantha! You're the one who's always complaining about what little privacy I give you, but here you are picking up my phone when you knew that I didn't want to talk to him. **Samantha, are you listening to me?!**"

**Sam nodded once more.**

**---- "Uhmm… I like privacy, you don't give me any, I don't show you any either. I got it."**

**Alexis rolled her eyes and pointed at her daughter.**

**--- "This isn't funny! I don't like that man! There's a reason I didn't pick up the phone! Why would I date someone who tried to stop you from progressing in your career?"**

**Sam stopped chewing for a second to look at her mother.**

**--- "Um, why would you date AND sleep with a man who tried to kill me and Nik?"**

**Alexis' mouth dropped; she had not expected Sam to throw Jerry into her face.**

**Sam** **noted that her mother was hurt by her comment, so she decided not to continue. Instead, She noticed her mother's plate was untouched and therefore **stole a fry off of her plate.

--- "Hmm… I'm really hungry. Mom, you really should try the fries; I don't know what the cook did to them, maybe a new seasoning, but they're really good."

She tried to hand Alexis a fry, but it was smacked away, rather; Alexis made sure to hit her daughter's hand hard enough it stung. Sam gave her a bruised, yet amused look.

--- "Owie, Mommy."

--- "I don't want a fry Samantha! Will you stop eating!?"

**--- "Sorry, but these are so good. To be honest, I'm actually scared that you might lock me in my room tonight, so I've gotta get all the food in me that I can!"**

Sam looked up and noticed Maxie walking toward them; she waved to her friend while smiling at her mother. Alexis turned around and noticed Maxie approaching with an obviously reluctant Mac behind her. Alexis looked at her daughter before rolling her eyes upwards, asking God what to do with her eldest daughter.

--- "This isn't over, Sam."

**--- "There's nothing more to say, Mom."**

Sam ignored her mother and greeted her friend.

--- "Maxie, aren't you great on timing! Hey Mac! Why are you so sluggish?"

Maxie laughed and explained her father's attitude.

--- "Well, I saw you two having an intense conversation, so I decided that I'd come by and find out what was up. Mac disagreed."

Alexis looked at Mac and smiled.

--- "Well, that was very appropriate Mac, thank you for respecting our privacy."

Mac smiled back.

--- "Well, I'm sorry I couldn't instill the same form of respect to my nosey daughter."

Alexis kicked Sam under the table.

--- "OW! Mom, are you seriously trying to bruise me up today? You're on a roll! You're being borderline abusive!"

Sam showed her mother her bruised hand. Alexis ignored her.

--- "Yeah, I know a little something about nosey daughters. **Well seeing as Maxie's already made herself comfortable, **would you care to join us?"

Maxie had already made Sam move over in the booth.

--- "I guess I don't have much of a choice!"

Alexis scooted over next to her daughter, allowing Mac room to sit.

* * *

_--- "You were expecting me?"_

_The butler nodded his head and showed her to an office, where another man was looking through a file._

_--- "Ah, Ms. Alexander, it's wonderful to see you. I am truly sorry for your loss; you have our sincerest apologies."_

_She nodded her head, and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief._

_--- "Thank you, sir. I apologize, but I'm not sure I understand why I'm here."_

_The man looked at her sympathetically. **He had been given strict instructions to, if his client were to pass before this woman, call upon her before speaking with his client's wife. For obvious reasons, his client knew this his wife would not be pleased to find out about the existence of his paramour. As a result, his client wanted to ensure that his lover was spoken to prior to any information regarding to his affairs be told to his wife.**_

_--- "I've got something very important to tell you."_

* * *

Lucky walked into the MetroCourt with Lulu; his sister thought that he needed to get out of the house since he had been a hermit wallowing in self-pity for the past few days. He missed Sam, but she was not picking up any of his phone calls.

As they were being seated at their table, he noticed her sitting at a cramped table with her mother, Mac and Maxie; he stared at her for a few minutes, enamored by her beauty. **He wanted to go over to the table and tell her how much he loved her, but he could not bring himself to.**

Lulu snapped her fingers in her brother's face.

--- "Earth to Lucky."

He came back to reality.

--- "I'm sorry, Lulu, I spaced out. I just miss her."

--- "Well, get her back!"

Lucky shook his head.

--- "I wish it were that simple."

--- "Why can't it be? You love her, she loves you, but you're just being pig-headed and stupid about everything."

He did not know why he was shocked by his sister's remarks to him, seeing as she seemed to like bad boys, but he had hoped that she would be supportive of him in this.

--- "I don't think I'm being stupid about anything—"

--- "So you admit that you're being pigheaded."

--- "NO! Look, being the person that she is, she's managed to get shot at, get shot, almost blown up to pieces, fell down a hole, and OH YEA, stabbed in the back causing her to be paralyzed for a few months."

--- "Well, being the person that she is, she managed to steal your heart, didn't she? Sam's always been the person that she is; she's adventurous and fearless, Lucky! But you still fell in love with her, and she with you. I don't know what makes you think that she's going to change just because she wants to be with you. If she changes, you'll lose the person you fell in love with because "Safe Sam" is not her."

Lucky looked over at Sam again. He could not imagine living his life without her, and that's what scared him the most about imagining a life with her.

* * *

Sam noticed Lucky walking into the MetroCourt with his sister; she tried not to show that she was looking in his direction, or had noticed him at all, but her mother never missed a beat. Without saying a word to bring any attention to the fact that her daughter was trying to hide the fact that she was upset, Alexis gave her daughter a reassuring squeeze on the knee; Sam **took her eyes off of Lucky, and glanced at her mother once again. She noticed that the fries were still untouched, so she stole another from Alexis' plate. Alexis shook her head at her daughter's gluttony.**

--- "Samantha, please help yourself, I'm not hungry."

Mac and Maxie looked at the mother and daughter and laughed; Maxis was almost envious of the relationship they shared.

**--- "You two are hilarious. What's so good about the fries anyway?"**

**Sam grabbed a couple more fries from her mother's plate and handed them to Maxie.**

**--- "I'm telling you, they're so good."**

**Alexis looked at her daughter.**

**--- "Seriously, I don't even know why I ordered anything seeing as I haven't been able to taste anything on my plate."**

**Sam smiled at her mother.**

**--- "Hey, you've been spending the passed 20 minutes, since the food was brought to us, yelling at me!"**

**Alexis rolled her eyes.**

**--- "Yea, I don't know why you would've needed to be yelled at; it's not like you did anything wrong, Samantha. It's not like you violated my privacy, when I specifically told you to let the situation drop."**

**--- "It wasn't that big of a deal, Mom."**

**Alexis was about to start lecturing her daughter again when she realized that Mac and Maxie were still at the table.**

**--- "We'll talk about this later. This isn't over, young lady."**

**--- "Wow, young lady? I think you're getting me confused with Kristina and Molly. I'm definitely not—"**

**Alexis sighed and put her hand up to cut her daughter off; Sam automatically stopped speaking. Alexis smiled.**

**--- "Point proven; you're the daughter, I'm the mother."**

**Sam tried to defend listening to her mother's **

**--- "I only stopped because I didn't want to be rude to our guests."**

**Maxie jumped in.**

**--- "No, no, you don't have to stop on our account. This was getting interesting; please continue."**

**Alexis glared at Maxie.**

**--- "Maxie, I think that you should leave this between Sam and me."**

**Although he did not want to get in the middle of Sam and Alexis' disagreement, **Mac had information he wanted to share with Alexis about the accident, **so he interrupted.**

--- "Alexis, when you get a chance, stop by my office; I've got some information I'd like to share with you."

Sam's interest peaked.

--- "What is it? About the accident?"

Alexis was interested as well.

--- "Mac, **is it about the case? Because if it is, **I can't sit through the rest of lunch and not know what you've found out!"

He put his fork down, and wiped his mouth.

--- "Okay. We have reason to believe that the accident and Sam's apartment explosion were related."

Sam, who had taken a bite out of her burger, was absolutely shocked.

--- "WHA!?"

Alexis wiped her face of the bit of food from Sam's mouth that hit her.

--- "Samantha, don't talk with your mouth full… at least not when you're sitting next to me. – Mac, are you telling us that somebody tried to kill us?"

Mac nodded his head. Alexis continued; she was getting visibly upset.

--- "And you're sitting here having lunch with us, why? Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what the hell is going on? Molly almost DIED! Sam could've been killed in that explosion! What leads do you have?"

**Maxie interrupted.**

**--- "Wait a second, Alexis, I think that's a bit harsh. My dad has to eat sometime you know. It's not like he's the one that sent whatever people you Cassidines might have angered after you. "**

Mac agreed that it seemed suspect for him to be having lunch with them instead of trying to figure out who was behind the accident and explosion.

--- "**Maxie, it's alright. **Alexis, I'm sorry, but I literally just found out a few minutes before I came by to take Maxie out for lunch. I've got my men working on this, as we speak."

Alexis put her face in her hands.

--- "God, what the hell is going on? I swear this has to be a cruel joke."

Sam grabbed her mother's hand.

--- "Mom, don't worry; we'll be fine. **For whatever reason, we've gotten through everything else life has thrown at us. I mean it's not like this is the first time somebody's been after us!**"

Alexis, **in a strange way,** **was somewhat comforted by the fact that her daughter right; this was not the first time that someone had been after them before. They survived that; there was no reason why they could not survive this**. But, at the same time, she was scared; who knew when this person was going to try to kill them again.

--- "Okay, how do you know they're related incidents?"

--- "Well, when we checked the tire marks from the accident, we noted that the car was lying in wait for you to approach—"

--- "How do you know that?"

--- "We think that once your car was spotted, the driver floored the pedal, and revved up, and took off towards you. The tire marks on the ground confirm that the car came from a position that was along the side of the road, rather than one that had been driving and swerved."

--- "The driver had to have known that we would be driving that way since it was Lakeview Terrace… My GOD! They know where we live!"

Alexis was getting more riled up at the thought that these people or person must be angry that they did not succeed in killing her and her two children.

--- "What about Sam's apartment?"

--- "When the Fire Marshall inspected the apartment, they discovered that the explosion happened in Sam's bedroom."

If this had not been a serious discussion, Sam would have made a crude joke to her mother, but she was just as upset as Alexis; she wanted to know who was trying to kill her and her family. Most importantly, she wanted to know why.

--- "I seriously don't understand why anyone would want to kill us! I mean, Krissy and Mol, too? That's not serial, that's personal!"

Mac shook his head.

--- "Well, we don't know if they were after the girls as well; they just so happened to be in the car with your mother."

Sam was not convinced, and from the way her mother was looking at her, she knew that she agreed with her.

* * *

_--- "I want them dead! Do you hear me? Kristina, Molly, Sam, and Alexis."_

_The last name was spoken with such malice and venom that the spit that formulated the name would surely have burned any person it landed on._

_--- "I don't want ANYMORE failures. That middle one, she's just like her older sister, promiscuous as can be, she should've been long gone! The same with Sam; two attempts, and she's still here! How she survived from being stabbed is beyond me! That apartment was to explode WITH HER IN IT! That little one, Molly, she astounded me by surviving that surgery! UNBELIEVABLE. Alexis… oh Alexis, I've got a surprise for her. I will tell you exactly as I told the others, if you fail, you will die."_

* * *

Sam and Alexis got into the car and drove home; Alexis decided that she did not want to deal with going back to the office for the day.

--- "What about your car?"

--- "Can you drop me off at work tomorrow morning? I'll drive home."

--- "Yup."

Neither woman wanted to discuss the PCPD's suspicions. Alexis knew that Sam was still bothered about seeing Lucky.

--- "Honey, I think we need to talk about you and Lucky."

Sam shook her head.

--- "No, we don't."

Alexis did not want to have the conversation while Sam was driving so she waited a few minutes until they arrived at the house before bringing up the topic again.

When Sam unlocked the doors, Alexis grabbed her daughter to stop her from leaving the car.

--- "Sam."

--- "Mom, no."

Alexis could see that the separation from Lucky was seriously upsetting Sam.

--- "Honey, you need to talk about this. Lucky's been calling you for days! You know that you love him; he loves you. Sam, I support you 100% in whatever you decide, but I need you to express your feelings because I know how you get when you don't."

Sam cut her eyes at her mother.

--- "And how do I get, Mom."

Alexis pointed at her.

--- "Defensive. Moody. Emotional. Self-Destructive. Shall I continue?"

Sam knew that her mother was right.

--- "Fine. I miss him. I want him. I love him. But, I can't go back to him. Mom, he says he loves me, but he clearly can't if he can't accept that I am the person he's terrified to be with. I've already been down the road of giving my heart to someone, only to have it trampled; I don't want to feel that kind of pain ever again. You know how long it took for me to get over Jason. Mom, you know how hard it was for me to admit that I loved Lucky. I can't put myself in a position with him where I agree to marry him, and we dedicate our lives to each other, and then he says one day when I'm ready to go to work that he can't handle my life anymore. I can't do it. I won't do it."

Alexis looked at Sam for a second.

--- "If Lucky were to call you today and tell you that he was willing to accept your career decisions, would you take him back?"

Tears filled Sam's eyes.

--- "I don't even know. How would I know that he wouldn't be telling me that just because he knew that that was what I wanted to hear? Mom, I need to focus on completely get back to my active self, and start working completely in the field again, and see how he reacts. Until that time, I'll question whether he'll stick around once I start actively working. I will NOT invest my time in a relationship with him with thoughts like that in the back of my head. My career means so much to me, and I cannot sacrifice that, or myself, for that matter, just because Lucky's afraid I'll get hurt. I have to think about me first."

It never ceased to astound her how far Sam had come from the con woman she had been when she first arrived in Port Charles years prior. Over time, Sam found herself, and that was the best gift any mother could ever ask for and receive. Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "I'm so proud of you."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "Thanks."

They both got out of the car and walked up to the house; there was a bouquet of roses on the porch. Sam grabbed them, and reached for the card.

--- "'I want you; I'll have you someday. Tom.' Hmm, Mom, looks like somebody's got the super hots for you! Shall I schedule a waxing?"

Alexis rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

--- "I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with you, Samantha. Your mind is just attached to the gutter."

--- "Well, the sperm doesn't stray too far from the condom."

Alexis smiled as she thought of a comeback for Sam's crude humor.

--- "Yea, well, the condom kills the sperm. So be careful, Samantha."

Sam snapped her finger and winked at her mom.

--- "Good one. I think I've begun to rub off on you yet, Mom."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Get in the house, crazy."


	12. Plans

Super Thanks to that crazy little Demon for your suggestions! You're the best.

I was supposed to post this last night, but I definitely fell asleep while working on it.

As usual, please review!

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Plans**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Agent Raynor was relentless. Ever since he had seen her lying on the ground unconscious after Jeff stabbed her, he knew he wanted her more than he did before everything had happened. He called Alexis a few times a week, but she was not answering or returning his calls. She did not even call him to let him know that she had received the flowers he had sent her. Despite all of this, he was not giving up.

He picked up the phone and dialed again, hoping to get a response.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Mac told Sam and Alexis about his suspicions regarding the car accident and the explosion in Sam's apartment. Alexis was getting a bit paranoid about leaving the girls to their own devices; she kept her daughters on a tight leash by calling Sam and Kristina constantly, and having Molly at her side at all times outside of the house and her school. The girls were beginning to feel overwhelmed by their mother's paranoia; they decided to confront her at the dinner table. Sam, being the oldest, was designated to start the intervention when the moment presented itself.

Alexis came out of the kitchen with the iced tea in her good hand and a bottle of wine under her arm; Kristina and Molly had set the table, while Sam unpacked the food.

--- "So, how was everyone's day?" Alexis seemed cheery.

Sam figured this was the best time to jump into it.

--- "Well, Mom, I think you should know how our day was seeing as you called Kristina and me twenty times today. Poor Molly, she's lucky if you let her pee without you in the room with her. We're just waiting for you to just take our doors off the hinges or at the very least make us all sleep with you in your room."

Kristina slapped herself in the forehead; Sam had never been known for her tactfulness. She leaned over to her sister.

--- "Way to lead in, Sam."

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Hey, I said I'd start; I never said it was going to be graceful."

Alexis finished pouring the girls iced tea, while she poured herself and Sam a glass of wine. She sat down, put her napkin on her lap and started serving the food; she was not about to have this conversation. Both Kristina and Sam knew that their mother was giving them the silent treatment; this basically meant that she did not care what any of them said, she was going to do as she pleased. Molly, on the other hand, was not so observant to her mother's tendencies.

--- "Mommy, Sam was talking to you. She said you're driving us crazy."

Alexis knew that she could not ignore her eight year old because she clearly did not recognize the signs of the silent treatment.

--- "Baby, I don't believe I heard Sam say that I was driving anyone crazy. Now, would you like some broccoli?"

--- "No, thank you. I just want to sleep in my own bed tonight."

Kristina smacked herself again; Molly was just as bad as Sam. She figured that she'd have a go at her mother.

--- "Mom, I think what Sam and Molly were trying to say was that you're suffocating us."

Sam pinched Kristina's leg and hissed at her.

--- "You're no better than us. What the hell was that?"

Kristina shrugged her shoulders.

Alexis cleared her throat.

--- "Ok, let me explain something to you three. My only concern is your safety. If I have to handcuff you all to me, just to ensure that you're safe, that's something I'm more than willing to do."

Because she did not want to scare the child, Alexis had never told Molly why she was becoming increasingly attached to them.

--- "Mommy, why wouldn't we be safe?"

Alexis smiled sadly at her daughter.

--- "Molly, baby, there's just a lot of things going on right now, and I just want to make sure that you girls stay safe. Right now, it's important I know where all of you are at all times because too many things have happened in a short amount of time."

Molly might have been young, but she certainly was not stupid.

--- "Is someone trying to hurt us?"

Alexis' eyes filled with tears at the thought that her young daughter had to worry about someone coming after them.

--- "We don't know for sure, but we think that it is a possibility."

Molly nodded her head.

--- "I think they tried something the other day!"

Sam and Kristina gaped at their sister, while Alexis grabbed her daughter's arm.

--- "Baby, what do you mean that you think somebody might have tried something the other day?"

--- "When I turned on the T.V., the cable was out! I bet they turned off the cable! That hurt me Mommy! I wanted to watch Zach and Cody!"

Alexis was relieved that Molly did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation.

--- "Hmm, that's unacceptable isn't it? We'll have to figure out what happened with that! Now, can we eat this yummy dinner, please?"

Alexis gave her two older daughters a glaring look warning them to put off the conversation until their little sister was out of the room.

* * *

Lucky paced back and forth looking at his phone; it had been three weeks since he had spoken to Sam, and two weeks since he had last seen her. He missed her. Every time he reached for the phone to call her, he put his hand back in his pocket. Sam did not respond to his calls; he hated the rejection. He figured that she was moving on with her life. He just wished that she was doing so with him.

* * *

Alexis was lying on her bed reading a book when Sam and Kristina walked in; she took her reading glasses off and closed her book.

--- "Ok, speak."

Kristina and Sam looked at each other; Kristina stared at her sister willing her to speak first. Sam did.

--- "Mom, I think you're going a bit overboard with everything—"

Alexis crossed her arms.

--- "Overboard, Samantha? Your apartment blew UP! Your sisters and I were nearly run off the road! Those things did not just happen."

Kristina interjected.

--- "But Mom, you calling us every second isn't going to stop someone from killing us—"

Alexis closed her eyes at the thought of her children being killed.

--- "I know that, but I also know that knowing where you are will help me be able to get help to you if, God forbid, need be. You girls should be lucky that I'm being this generous! I mean, I could just lock you in your rooms—"

Sam put her hand up to interrupt, but Alexis pointed her finger at her.

--- "Samantha, I don't care if you're an adult. Really, I don't understand how many times I have to tell you the same thing! You're my daughter, all three of you are my girls, and I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that you're safe. I'm not discussing this any further with you."

--- "But Mommy!—"

--- "Kristina, no. We don't know whose after us or why. We don't know if we know the person, or if it's someone who lives in this town. Why the hell would I allow you girls to wander aimlessly without me knowing about it? You know what, I don't want you girls going anywhere, except school and work without me—"

Sam jumped in.

--- "Excuse me? Mom, seriously, I don't think so."

Alexis stood up.

--- "You girls don't have a choice in the matter—"

Sam walked up to her mother, with a pointed finger.

--- "The HELL I don't! Are you kidding me? I'm 29 years old, and you expect me to be chaperoned everywhere I go outside of this house? I lived with Jason for years! I was ALWAYS in danger!

Alexis grabbed her daughter's finger.

--- "You need to relax right now, Samantha. I don't care if you lived with Jason for years; I was terrified for you then, and I'm terrified now."

Sam tried to pull her finger free, but Alexis tightened her grip; she glared at her eldest daughter.

--- "I'm not going to have my children fighting for their lives on the operating table again. I don't know who this maniac is, but I will NOT give him any opportunity to hurt a hair on your heads again. Do you understand me?"

Kristina knew better than to fight with her mother. Sam, on the other hand, did not answer.

--- "Samantha."

Sam was livid with her mother. She could not believe that her mother thought she could control her life in such a way. It was one thing to be worried, but it was another thing to refuse her access to the outside world.

--- "No, I don't understand you."

Kristina stepped in between her sister and mother.

--- "Um, okay… Um, I think that we all need to calm down some."

She did not know what to say because this was a completely different situation than she had ever been involved with. No one had ever, at least to her knowledge, been after her life. She was not happy with her mother's interference in her life, but she was beginning to see the point in the heightened security.

Sam turned to her sister.

--- "Kristina, stay out of this.—No, Mom, I don't understand this. We have police surveillance all over the house; we've got police escorts wherever we go. There's no reason to have you everywhere with us when we go out. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. What protection can you give us? Now, let go of my finger, I'm going to bed."

Alexis released her daughter's finger.

--- "Would you care to follow me to my room ALL THE WAY ACROSS the house? I mean, isn't it a bit far from you, Mom? Are you sure you don't want me in a crib in here?"

--- "You keep acting the way you are… Samantha, don't test me."

Sam turned around and started for the door.

--- "Whatever."

She left her mother's room.

* * *

Alexis' phone began to ring a few minutes after Sam and Kristina left her room. She looked down and rolled her eyes when she saw the phone flash, 'Do not answer.' She figured that she might as well pick of the phone; Agent Raynor was proving to be a very patient and resilient man.

--- "Hello."

He smiled on the other line.

--- "So, you do pick up the phone on occasion."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Yes I do. What can I do for you Agent Raynor?"

--- "Thomas, please, call me Thomas. You can call me Tom if you like."

Alexis sighed. She was annoyed about the argument she had just had with Sam, and she just could not stand this man.

--- "What can I do for you Tom?"

--- "You cut to the chase, I like that. I want to take you out on a date."

--- "This isn't a good time."

--- "Well, I wasn't talking about now, Alexis; How about tomorrow night?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No, you don't understand; I can't leave my girls alone right now."

--- "Samantha's an adult—"

Alexis snapped at him.

--- "I'm fully aware of the fact that my daughter's an adult."

Agent Raynor realized that he started this conversation on the entirely wrong foot.

--- "I'm sorry Alexis, I didn't mean anything by that. What's going on?"

Alexis blurted it out.

--- "Someone's trying to kill my family and me."

Agent Raynor felt horribly; he knew, like anyone in a position such as that, Alexis must have been a nervous wreck."

--- Oh my God. Okay, I'll have my men look into this for you."

--- "It's not in your jurisdiction. You can't just have your men stop whatever work they're doing for the government and the federal system to work on a local state jurisdictional crime."

--- "You're the DA, I'm sure I can pull some strings."

Alexis was touched by his willingness to help her; the iced contempt she had toward him was slowly melting away.

--- "I really do appreciate that Thomas."

--- "That's not a problem, Alexis."

--- "Okay, well I have to go now. Again, thanks for your concern."

--- "Wait! You haven't answered my question."

She was so concerned about her family, she had forgotten that he had even asked her out on a date.

--- "Um, I'll get back to you on that. Good Night."

Alexis hung up the phone feeling a bit anxious; she did not think that right now was the best time to start dating, not when someone was wanting to kill her. Then again, she was beginning to see Sam's point about allowing fear to run your life; she could not sit in the house all day huddled under the sheets or under the bed with her girls handcuffed to her.

* * *

_--- "You've been named the sole beneficiary of Mr. Davidovitch's estate."_

_The woman nearly choked on the water that the attorney had offered her. _

_--- "Excuse me?"_

_The attorney handed her a napkin to dry her dress from the little bit of water that spilled on it._

_--- "Mr. Davidovitch told me to give you this note."_

_She took the note from his hands and read it._

"_To my dearest Layna, _

_I know that this must be a shock to you, but I want you to have everything I own. You mean the world to me, and I want you to be taken care of. Your husband cannot care for you the way that I can. You do not love him. I know that. You are not happy with him. I want you to leave him. _

_I love you from the moon to the sun, and from the sun to infinity. _

_Andreus"_

_Layna had tears in her eyes after reading the letter. She read the final line several times over._

_--- "He wants me to leave my husband. How can I do that? I've been with him since I was eighteen."_

_The attorney shrugged his shoulders._

_--- "Ms. Alexander, it's up to you. Mr. Davidovitch has made provisions for you leave the country with your children under a new identity."_

_She was in shock._

_--- "What if I don't want to leave?"_

_--- "You will not get the inheritance."_

_She thought about it for a moment before nodding her head. She hated her husband. She hated waking up next to him every morning. Now that Andreus was gone, she felt more disdain for the man she awoke with every morning because when she dreamt she was with her love._

_--- "I'll do as he requested."_

_The attorney nodded his head._

_--- "There is one more thing I must tell you."_

* * *

Kristina had a feeling that her sister was going to do something foolish, so she ran across the house to Sam's room. She walked in to find Sam getting dressed, and a duffle bag was sitting by the door.

--- "What the hell are you doing?"

Sam was a bit startled because she had not noticed when her sister walked into the room; when she heard the question, she thought her mother had caught her.

--- "Kristina, got out."

Kristina grabbed the duffle bag and walked to the bed with it. She unzipped it, and began unpacking her sister's belongings.

--- "I'm not letting you leave."

Sam finished dressing and ignored her sister. When she finished unpacking the bag, Kristina sat on the floor in front of the door.

--- "You can give me Mom's silent treatment all you want, Sam, but I'm serious, you're not leaving."

Sam grabbed the empty duffle bag and filled it once more with her things. When she was done, she walked up to Kristina and tried to lift her up from her seat on the floor; it was not as easy as she thought it would be.

--- "Kristina, move."

--- "No."

Sam was getting annoyed; she was not about to have her mother dictate her life, and now have her younger sister do the same. She threw the duffle bag on the floor and used both hands to yank her sister up.

--- "Get out of my way!"

Sam fell back as she pulled her sister up, causing Kristina to fall on top of her. The two began to fight as Sam tried to push Kristina off of her so that she could grab her bag and leave.

--- "You're not leaving Sam."

--- "OW! Damn it, you're pulling my hair!"

Sam grabbed her sister's hair in retaliation.

--- "OW! LET GO!"

The sisters continued to fight each other until the door opened up and someone was grabbing them each by the ear causing them to scream in shock, more than agony. They stopped fighting and looked up; it was their mother looking more furious than she had been in a long time.

--- "What the hell is going on here? GET UP!"

She still had each of her daughters by the ear; Kristina by the left ear, and Sam by the right. The girls had no other option but to do as they had been ordered. When they were up, Alexis released their burning ears and pointed to the bed.

--- "SIT."

Once again, they acquiesced; their mother was not one to be disobeyed when she was in this type of mood.

Alexis looked around the room, and noticed Sam's duffle bag on the floor; she went over and picked it up.

--- "Were you planning on going somewhere, Samantha?"

Sam bit her lip and rubbed her ear. For whatever reason, even though she was an adult who grew up on the street, and without a mother, Alexis, when she became enraged, was always able to put the fear of God in her; at these time, she felt like a child awaiting the grounding of her life. She quietly responded.

--- "I was leaving."

Alexis opened the bag and emptied out the clothes and other contents on the bed; a book fell out. She gave Sam a sideways glance; Sam was about to reach for it, but Alexis was quicker. She tried to open the book, but it was locked; she handed it to her daughter.

--- "Open it.—Kristina, go sit on the sofa."

Kristina had a feeling she knew what was in the book; it was the small gun that Sam had handed her when Molly was kidnapped. Not wanting to piss her mother off any further, she did as she was told.

--- "Samantha, I said open it."

Sam sighed, punched the code in, and opened the box revealing the gun that was concealed inside. Alexis glared at her.

--- "A GUN?! You brought a gun into this house?! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE THESE THINGS! Is this even legally registered?!"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Mom, yes. I've had that gun here for years."

Alexis was incensed.

--- "FOR YEARS? WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A GUN IN THIS HOUSE WHEN YOU HAVE A SNOOPING EIGHT YEAR OLD SISTER RUNNING AROUND?"

--- "It was obviously well concealed! AND it was locked with a combination that she could never guess."

Alexis began to pace.

--- "How long?"

--- "TMK."

Sam did not want to say the actual name of "Text Message Killer" in front of Kristina since Diego Alcazar had caused her one of her emotional breakdowns.

Alexis pointed to her daughter.

--- "I don't want that thing in here anymore."

Sam stood up in protest.

--- "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WITH WHATEVER NONSENSE THAT'S GOING ON NOW, YOU WANT TO LIVE IN THIS HOUSE WITHOUT ANY PROTECTION WHATSOEVER?"

Alexis hissed at her daughter.

--- "Lower your voice."

She was so furious with Sam she was finding it hard to figure out where to begin.

--- "Where were you going to run off to?"

Sam did as she was told and lowered her voice as she responded.

--- "Kelly's."

--- "Why?"

--- "Mom, really? I can't stay here! You're treating us as though this person is not going to come after us even if we're with you all of the time. I'm an adult! I don't need to ask my mother for permission to do anything. I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. I know how to take care of myself."

Alexis ran her hands through her hair.

--- "You cannot be this selfish Samantha. You know how to take care of yourself. Well, tha'ts good and well, but you know what? While you're off running off taking care of yourself, I've got your little sisters and myself to worry about, and of course, I'll have my eldest daughter who seems to think that she's an invincible superhero to also think about. Do you think that I can really take care of your sisters to the best of my ability if I'm worried to death that you're lying in a ditch someplace dead, or blown up to pieces!"

Sam felt bad.

--- "Mom, I'm sorry."

Alexis was not convinced.

--- "Where are your car keys?"

Sam handed them to her mother.

--- "You, young lady, are not leaving this house without permission anymore."

Sam truly felt like a young child again. Kristina, who was sitting quietly on the sofa, was in an amused yet befuddled awe; she loved when Sam got into trouble for something she knew she should not have been doing, but at the same time, her sister was an adult. Therefore, Kristina knew that any hope she had of escaping from her mother's control when she became an adult was out of the window.

--- "Mom, you CANNOT be serious!"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "You're obviously determined to do whatever you feel like doing, and I'm not ready to have you killed; if anyone will be killing you, it will be me. Now, I think that you and Kristina should probably make up now because you'll be spending a lot of time together."

Kristina looked at her mother in confusion.

--- "I'm sorry, Mommy, but what does that mean?"

--- "Sam's moving into your room."

Sam and Kristina responded at the same time.

--- "EXCUSE ME?!"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Sam, you can't be trusted alone on this side of the side of the house. Kristina, you clearly are on the verge of disobeying me—"

--- "MOMMY! I was trying to stop Sam from running away!"

--- "Yet earlier, you were complaining about me keeping tabs on you girls. I'm sorry, but I'm not having you two run around while this lunatic is plotting to kill us."

Sam shook her head; she knew fighting her mother on this was a lost cause.

--- "This is the most ridiculous thing you've ever done. Since you're determined to keep me prisoner here, without a car, and without my own room, would you mind turning the car off; it's running outside."

Alexis looked at the keys for the button to shut the car off. As soon as she pressed it, a loud explosion shook the house.


	13. Enchained

_Cuckoo Magoo…_

_It's 4:30 in the morning. God only knows why I'm still awake, but I am… barely. Here's the next UNEDITED chapter. As usual, it'll be fixed later. Any changes will be emboldened._

_~Mel._

_Thanks for your comments! Please Review._

_I'm SHOCKED no one said anything about Mr. Davidovitch and Ms. Alexander!_

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Enchained**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_Sonny had been chained to a wall after he tried to escape; he had been held captive for so long, he had lost track of time. He did not know whether it was daytime or nighttime, and he certainly was not sure of what day is actually was, hell he did not even know what month or season it was. All he knew was that he had been held captive for months. _

_He was not beaten or tortured; he was just left sitting in wherever he was being held, chained to the wall. He never saw his captor, nor had he ever his captor's name spoken. No orders were ever given. Food was supplied three times a day. While he did not know the identity of his captor, he knew that it was not a member of any of the rival mob families, and he was certain that it was not Anthony Zacchara's doing; if it had been any of these people's doing, he would have been dead, or at the very least tortured. This captivity was more calculated and purposeful; Sonny figured he was being held as a means of distraction._

_********************_

The explosion rocked the house.

--- "Kristina get down!"

Alexis jumped down on Sam and brought her to the floor. Sam tried to wiggle out of her mother's grasp, but Alexis held her tightly.

--- "Mom, Molly!"

Alexis let go of her daughter when she realized that her youngest child was across the house asleep in her bed; the driveway was closer to that side of the house than where they currently were.

--- "Mom, stay with Krissy; I'm going to get Molly."

Sam ran out of the room towards her little sister's room. The fire was moving toward that side of the house. She ran as quickly as she could, which was not as fast as she had once been able to move prior to having been stabbed.

--- "MOLLY!"

Molly, who was normally a pretty sound sleeper, was awoken by the explosion. She jumped out of her bed and ran through the bathroom to Kristina's room.

--- "Krissy?!"

She then heard Sam calling her name. Molly opened the door.

--- Sammy!"

Sam picked up her sister and gave her a big kiss.

--- "Baby, I'm so glad you're okay. Good, okay, let's go; we have to get out of here."

Molly wrapped her arms around Sam's neck and buried her head in her shoulder.

--- "I'm scared."

Sam got a firm grasp of her sister, as she ran back across the house to her bedroom.

--- "Baby, it's okay. We're gonna fine."

She reached her room and handed Molly to her mother; the poor child was terrified.

--- "Mom, we've gotta get out of here! The fire from the explosion is spreading toward the house."

Alexis was terrified. It was winter in upstate New York, her car was parked next to Sam's which meant one of two things: 1) her car was also set to explode and 2) her car even if it weren't set to explode was perilously close to following suit being that it's current location. She needed to make sure that everyone was well bundled before they left the house.

--- "Shit, okay. It's freezing outside—"

She ran to Sam's closet and grabbed two sweatshirts. Sam was already dressed so she threw one to Kristina and put an oversized sweatshirt on Molly.

--- "Damn it, don't you have flats in here!?"

Kristina ran out of the room before anyone noticed her; her mother was busy trying to find a way to keep them warm that neither she nor Sam thought to call the cops, and Alexis was just wearing a shorts and a t-shirt herself. Kristina ran to her mother's smoke-filled room, found her cellphone and dialed 911 as she found warm clothes and boots for Alexis to wear.

--- "Hi, there was a car explosion at 1530 Lakeview Terrace. Our house is on fire now. Please hurry."

She ran to her room, grabbed her Uggs, and grabbed the identical pair of boots from Molly's room; they're coats were on the coat rack in the living room. She then ran back to Sam's house.

--- "Here! And I called 911; they're on their way!"

Alexis would have freaked that her daughter ran to the fiery side of the house, but there was a time and place for that; this was neither.

--- "Thank you, sweetheart. Molly, put the boots on. Sam, call Nikolas, tell him to get down here and get us."

--- "Mom, that's going to take forever; he needs to get on the launch, then drive down here! I'm going to call—"

Alexis looked at her daughter; Sam was clearly debating on calling Lucky.

--- "SAMANTHA! Call ANYONE! Just get them down here, so that we can get to safety!"

Sam nodded and dialed.

--- "Jason! I need your help! Our house is on fire… Thanks!"

Alexis was not pleased with her daughter's choice of rescuers, but it was a rescue.

When they made it outside, the firetrucks were just arriving.

--- "Ma'am, what happened?"

Alexis explained everything that had happened.

Jason arrived shortly thereafter, followed by Mac. Alexis gave the same information to Mac.

--- "Alexis, we're going to get the bomb squad here since we don't know if you're car is also wired to explode. I think that your best bet would be to just leave. I'll call you with any information that we have."

--- "Thanks Mac."

Alexis jumped into the backseat of Jason's car with Kristina and Molly; Sam was in the front.

--- "Jason, thank you for getting us."

Jason nodded his head.

--- "You're welcome Alexis. Where do you want me to take you?"

--- "Um, to the MetroCourt; I'd rather not take the launch in the middle of the night to Spoon Island."

He nodded again; he was a man of few words. Sam looked at her old lover; she remembered why she had fallen in love with him..

--- "Sam, my cell died, let me have yours to call Jax."

Even in those few words he seemed to speak, his body said so much. She did not know if the feelings she was having were as a result of not having sex in a few weeks, but she was suddenly turned on by him.

--- "Sam?"

She thought about his chiseled muscles, and the six pack underneath his muscle tee. She imagined his tongue moving all over her body. He was a fantastic lover.

--- "Samantha—"

But then she remembered the fact that he had threatened her life. She thought about how quickly he turned on her, and gave up on their love for each other. She reflected on the pain that she was in when they broke up. She was a completely different person all of those years ago.

--- "SAMANTHA!"

Sam snapped out of her train of thought.

--- "Yea, Mom?"

Alexis had an idea of what her daughter was thinking about; she hoped that she was not thinking about going after Jason again.

--- "Your cell phone."

Sam pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to her mother; Alexis gave her a knowing look.

Despite the sexual tension she was feeling toward Jason, and she felt radiating from him, she could not bring herself to go back to him; regardless of their current stalemate, she loved Lucky.

*************************

_--- "There's something that you must know about the devisement of the will, Ms. Alexander. Mr. Davidovitch meant for you to have the full contents of his estate for the remainder of your life, only."_

_She looked at the attorney as though he had three heads._

_--- "Sir, doesn't that make sense? I mean, I can't anything with me to the Pearly Gates."_

_The attorney shook his head._

_--- "No, I don't think you understand what I mean. This is a life estate. Under the direction of the will, upon your death, the estate will automatically transfer to the next person he's listed as an heir."_

_She was getting upset._

_--- "Who is that?"_

_--- "I can't tell you that."_

_She stood up from the chair incensed._

_--- "And what about my children?"_

_--- "I'm sorry, Ms. Alexander, but he did not mention them in the will. He meant to care for you, and you could take from what he meant for you to care for your children. But, once you pass, the property will no longer belong to you. That is the character of a will's devisement to a person in a Life Estate. It's meant only to be kept for that person's life."_

_She shook her head in complete disbelief._

_*************************_

They arrived at the MetroCourt; Molly had fallen back asleep, so Alexis and Kristina stepped out of the car to get her inside and in bed, while Sam lagged behind to thank Jason.

--- "I'm really sorry that I got you out to do this for me. I would've called Lucky, but—"

She did not know why she was bringing up her current boyfriend to her ex-boyfriend. Jason blankly stared at her.

--- "You don't have to explain anything to me Sam. Despite everything that happened between us, you saved Jake from the explosion; I think I owed you one. I'm sorry; I have to go… Sonny—"

Sam nodded her head; Sonny had been missing for months, and no leads had come in about his whereabouts. Alexis believed that he was dead, but for Kristina's sake, she never mentioned her actually beliefs. Kristina, although she hardly ever saw her father, knew that he had been missing, chalked it up to mob warfare; she did not seem too worried since Sonny always managed to get himself out of any trouble he found himself in.

Sam stepped out of the car and saw Lucky staring at her; Jason drove off.

--- "Lucky—"

He shook his head at her.

--- "You couldn't even call me, Sam? You had to call Jason—"

Sam did not know what to tell him; she called Jason because he had no expectations from her.

--- "If I had called you, we would've had a conversation I was not ready to have."

--- "You won't answer my calls—"

--- "That's because I know what you're going to say, Lucky! You're going to say that you love me, and that you want me in your life, but that my career goals make it difficult for you to be with me. You might even try to say you can deal with my job as a PI, but that's only because I'm not yet back to doing it full-time. Lucky, I'm doing this, whether you like it or not. I love you, and I want to be with you, but not at the expense of who I am. I won't lose myself in a relationship again."

Lucky grabbed Sam, and pulled her into a passionate embrace.

--- "Sam, I love you—"

Sam held onto him for a few seconds before pulling away.

--- "I know you do, and I love you too. I think we just need some time apart. I have to get inside before my mother sends the National Guard after me."

As she moved to leave, he grabbed her arm.

--- "Sam, please—"

Sam kissed him again, longingly; she missed him more than she could ever convey. She wanted to have him in that moment.

--- "Meet me in the women's bathroom in one minute."

He looked at her shockingly.

--- "The bathroom, Sam?"

She nodded.

--- "It's one in the morning, I seriously doubt anyone is going in there right now."

She ran inside the building and to the front desk. She spoke to the concierge and informed him to call her mother to tell her that she'll be up in about 25 minutes; she was speaking with Lucky. She then ran to towards the ladies' room.

********************

_--- You blew up her car, and she wasn't in it? Do you idiots not understand the concept of death? I can't get what's rightfully mine unless they're all dead! I don't have much time!" _

_The caller slammed the phone shut and looked through the glass at the bed with the sickly patient hooked up to monitors. The patient was getting sicker by the hour; there was not much time left to waste._

_**********************_

Lucky made as though he was headed to the men's room, but walked right into the ladies' room, where Sam was waiting for him. When he stepped in, she locked the door behind him.

--- "We don't have much time before my mother comes searching for me."

He lifted her and placed her on the sink vanity. He slipped her pants and underwear off. She pulled him into a kiss and unzipped and unbuttoned his pants. She moved forward and took him in.

--- "I missed you."

--- "You have no idea."

They made passionate love, moving to their natural rhythms. He lifted her from the vanity and held her while she used the upper body strength she had acquired while in the wheelchair work for her.

When they were done, Lucky put her down, and they quickly dressed.

--- "I love you, Sam."

Her eyes filled with tears.

--- "I love you, too."

He slipped his hand under her shirt.

--- "I missed this so much."

She pulled away from him suddenly filled with emotion.

--- "I can't do this, Lucky."

He was confused.

--- "What?"

She wiped the fallen tears.

--- "I can't have sex with you like this, and then we act like everything is back to normal. I'm still going to do what I've planned on doing, and you're still going to hate it. I'm not willing to lose you, but you need to figure out what you want, Lucky. I'm not changing who I am."

Lucky nodded his head; his sister was right when she said that he had fallen in love with Sam knowing what kind of person she was. It was not fair to now expect her to become someone completely different because he was scared to lose her.

--- "I want you, Sam. I want all of you. I don't like your choice of profession, but because I love you, I'm willing to try and be okay with it."

Sam smiled.

--- "Thank you. I think that until I get on my feet fully, we're going to have to move slowly. I'm not marrying, Lucky. I'm not moving in with you either. I need to know for sure that you're really going to be supportive of my decision."

He was disappointed, but he wanted to prove to her that he was serious; he was going to make a conscious effort to accept her career.

She kissed him, and walked out of the bathroom and toward the elevator.

*********************

Alexis sat on the couch of the suite waiting for Sam to come in. When she heard the door open, and she saw her daughter, she was grateful. She knew that she had been with Lucky, but that did not stop her from still worrying about her safety, considering the fact that her car had just exploded.

--- "Samantha, come here."

Sam looked at her mother, not in the mood to fight and argue.

--- "Mom, I know that I should've come up like twenty minutes ago—"

Alexis cut her off.

--- "Come here."

Sam did as she was told and walked toward her mother. Alexis reached for her daughter's hand and pulled her to her. She held onto Sam.

--- "Honey, I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you're safe. I am so grateful that you were not in that car when it exploded."

A sob threatened to escape from Alexis' throat. Sam held her mother.

--- "I know. I'm sorry. If you hadn't stopped me from leaving, I would've been—"

Alexis put her finger on her daughter's lips.

--- "I don't even want to think about that."

She kissed Sam on the top of the head.

--- "Okay. Go take a shower and get to bed; for your romp in the ladies' bathroom downstairs with Lucky, I sentence you to a night sharing a bed with Molly."

Sam would have asked her mother how she knew about her and Lucky, but she did not even bother; Alexis had a way of finding everything out.

********************

_Folks, I'm neither a Jasam, nor a LuSam fan, although of the two, I prefer the latter because we were able to have pleasant Samlexis scenes. Since a couple of you asked me about Jason, I added him into the chapter, but I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'll incorporate him in. Thoughts? _


	14. Personal

**Couple of Notes and Shout-Outs**

_Ok, so many of you will get your wish. Jason will be involved in the story. To what extent will be storyline dictated; for now, he is on recurring status. _In regards to JaSam vs. LuSam, I'm going to leave that to the storyline… I HONESTLY don't know which, if either, Sam chooses to be with. We'll just have to see what happens.

LMAO **SamFanFirst** in re her HILARIOUS rambling review for Ch 12. I seriously LOLd. Some of you truly crack me up.

**Liv,** in re your Ch 12 review about "real family bonding", that has been my goal with writing the Davis family. I'm trying to make them close to a normal family as possible; I've got the bonding, fighting, and dysfunction rolled into one. From everyone's responses, I think I'm successful! SCORE!

**Demon**, you are SOOO jealous! lmao! Yea, you're a nut job. I think it goes without saying that your reviews have me dying. This best ones though are on NF, when you rhyme to tell me to check here for the review. And YES, I AM Diane... Really and truly, her personality matches mine too closely for words. lol. So I have to sneak her in sometimes.

**Ghpifan** NICE CATCH with the Benjamin BuTTON err. LMAO!

**Just because I'm grateful for the great responses to the last chapter, I've rewarded you with a LONG CHAPTER!** It took me the better half of the century to write, but luckily, it was a crappy day outside and I already did my big assignment for the week! :oD It might appear to be filler, but...

This is really and truly my favorite chapter written...

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Personal**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Agent Raynor ran to the store in the middle of the night and picked up several items of clothing. He grabbed toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, along with a teddy bear, a few magazines, and popcorn; she loved the stuff. He headed to the self-checkout.

*************************

The next morning, Sam felt like she served a heavy sentence for her little romp with Lucky; Molly was a horrible sleeper. The child contoured herself into the oddest sleeping positions, and was oblivious to the fact that those positions conflicted with the person sleeping beside her; for that reason no one ever liked sharing a bed with her.

Sam woke up with Molly's butt in her face, as the child managed to position herself parallel to the headboard. Sam was within inches of falling from the bed; she got up before Molly could make any sudden moves or releases. As she looked around the room, the reality of the situation hit her as she realized that the clothes on their backs were pretty much what her family presently owned; she had to hand-wash, after her shower, the pair of underwear she wore the night before. She was not pleased about going commando. She was not yet sure about the state of the house, but she knew that it did not matter because there would be no way that her mother would allow them to go back there; at least not until the person after them was captured.

Sam walked into the living room of the suite to find her mother and sister already awake. Alexis was drinking a cup of coffee and staring into space. Kristina was absent-mindedly flipping through the television channels; every news channel was broadcasting the explosion at the District Attorney's home.

---" God, my back is killing me! Morning."

--- "Morning, Sammy."

--- "Hi honey."

Sam grabbed her mother's cup of coffee and took a sip.

--- "Help yourself, Samantha."

Sam handed the cup back to her mother, when she noticed the croissant and other cup on the counter Alexis had pointed to.

--- "Thanks, Mom."

--- "You're welcome honey."

She took her plate and sat beside her sister on the couch.

--- "Hey twirp. Did you sleep well?"

Kristina nodded her head.

--- "Yea, Mom's a rock when she sleeps."

She smirked at her sister.

--- "Um, I'm sure you had a pleasant night."

Sam put her coffee down and glared at her mother.

--- "God, Mom! You told her about Lucky and me in the bathroom?"

Alexis looked at Sam in utter shock.

--- "Really Sam? Why would I do that? I swear, sometimes you don't think."

Kristina's mouth hung open.

--- "OH MY GOD! I was talking about sleeping with Molly! But you and Lucky?! You got it on in the bathroom!? OH MY GOD! What bathroom?! Not here, because Mom would so kick you're a—butt. Are you back together?"

Alexis put her dishes in the sink and called out to her middle daughter.

--- "Kristina, it's none of your business. Samantha, I'm not comfortable with you having this conversation in front of your sister—"

Sam looked at her mother.

--- "Um, I'm not comfortable having this conversation, period."

Sam took another sip of her coffee when Kristina flipped through the news; there was an image of Sam's burning car.

--- "DAMN! Those bastards blew up my new car! You just got that for me! Fuck!"

Molly walked into the room unnoticed.

--- "Honey, you're alive that's all that matters—"

--- "OOOH Sam! You're not supposed to say fuck!"

Alexis scolded her young daughter as Kristina laughed aloud.

--- "Molly, YOU'RE not allowed to say it either! Kristina, don't encourage her!"

Molly shrugged her shoulders and sat next to Sam on the couch.

--- "Mommy, I didn't say it, Sam did!"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Samantha, watch your mouth."

Sam waved her hand at her mother.

--- "Ugh, sorry! I'm just really pissed that something ELSE of mine BLEW UP! Shit, I think I left my iPod in there!"

--- "OOOOH SAM! You're not supposed to say—"

Alexis scolded her young daughter again.

--- "MOLLY!"

Sam finished Molly's statement.

--- "Yea, I'm not supposed to say shit, I know."

Alexis walked to the couch.

--- "Samantha, STOP cursing."

Sam apologized again.

--- "Mom, I'm sorry, but I'm just annoyed that in a matter of weeks, my apartment, with all my stuff, and my BRAND NEW car went kablooey. God, I wonder if the house is alright."

Alexis shook her head. There was no use of hiding this from Molly anymore, because she clearly was aware that the car did not explode on its own.

--- "Honey, we're not going back there; at least not anytime soon; they know where we live! I can't live there with you girls if there's a chance whoever this is tries something else."

Kristina piped into the conversation.

--- "So, where are we going to live?"

--- "Wyndemere."

All three girls groaned at the idea; none of them liked the castle full of secret passageways, and home of murders and attempts.

Alexis shrugged.

--- "Sorry, guys."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door; Alexis got up to open it.

--- "Diane!"

Her best friend walked into the suite and handed Alexis a bag from the liquor store.

--- "You brought liquor… at nine in the morning… for me and my kids… Thank you?"

Alexis was amused and disturbed at the same time; Diane had lush tendencies.

--- "So little faith you have in me Alexis! Seriously, WHY would I bring liquor for children? I got THEM cider. For use adults, I bought two bottles of wine! I'm offended."

Sam got up from the couch and attempted to take the bag from her mother's hand. Alexis slapped her hand away.

--- "Samantha, it's NINE in the MORNING."

Sam stuck her tongue at her mother.

--- "You're no fun. … Hey Diane."

--- "Hey short-stack."

--- "Mom, I was simply trying to take the bag from you; you've only got the one good hand right now!"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Go sit down, Samantha. … See what you've caused Diane."

Diane took her coat off, grabbed two glasses, and sat at the table with Alexis. She uncorked a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. She offered her best friend one.

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- 'Diane, I usually like it to be past noon before I take my first sip. Thanks."

--- "Hey, look, after the night you four had, I think that a little liquor is in order. My God, are you wearing the same clothes from last night? If I didn't know any better, I would've said that you all took the walk of shame… except for the littlest cutie pie over there."

Kristina jumped in the conversation.

--- "I don't know about Mom, Diane, but Sam basically took that walk!"

Sam smacked Kristina on the leg.

--- "What the hell, Kristina!?"

Alexis did not want another fight to erupt between her girls, so she intervened.

--- "Krissy, go take a shower."

--- "I don't have any underwear, and I don't want to wear these clothes again after I've showered."

Alexis groaned in annoyance.

--- "From the string I saw hanging in the bathroom, you know, the thing Sam calls underwear, I'm quite certain that you're sister is going commando right now; as you can see, she's just as bratty as normal. Doing the same, Kristina, will not harm you for a few hours. We'll get new clothes later today."

Kristina shrugged.

--- "Fine."

Diane shook her head.

--- "That was more information than I cared to know, Lex."

Sam agreed.

--- "Yea, Mom, I don't think everyone needed to know my business. Thanks for sharing."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "We're all women, whatever."

Diane was intrigued by Kristina's earlier comment.

--- "So, Sam, what is this about a walk of shame—"

Alexis cut Diane off.

--- "There's a pair of little ears in the room."

She pointed to Molly who was absorbed in her favorite show on the television.

--- "That child is NOT listening, Alexis… Watch."

Diane called out to Molly.

--- "Molly, look there's Barney!"

As predicted, Molly did not react.

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Barney, Diane? She's eight; she doesn't watch Barney. God, is that show even still on?"

Diane was shocked.

--- "She's eight?! Why did I think she was five?!"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Diane, my children are petite."

Diane took a bite out of a croissant and corrected her best friend.

--- "Tiny."

Sam and Alexis both rolled their eyes.

--- "I swear, your jokes about my daughters' heights are getting old."

There was another knock on the door; Sam got up to open it.

--- "Agent Raynor?"

Alexis stood up at the sound of Agent Raynor being at the door.

--- "Thomas, what are you doing here?"

He greeted everyone.

--- "Good Morning everyone. I'm sorry to drop by unannounced, but I heard about the explosion. I brought you all some essentials I thought you'd need."

He handed the bag to Sam, who looked inside it.

Diane scoffed.

--- "From Walmart?"

Alexis hit her best friend in the arm.

--- "Thank you Thomas; that was very thoughtful of you. Please come in. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

He took his coat in and laid it across the couch before taking Diane's previously occupied seat.

--- "No thank you, Alexis."

Sam pulled out a package from the bags and looked at Agent Raynor questioningly.

--- "You bought us underwear?"

Diane spit her wine out.

--- "WHAT? That's a little strange, Agent Raynor. You purchased underwear for a woman and her daughters whom you hardly know?"

Sam agreed, but she saw the look on her mother's face, so she kept quiet.

Agent Raynor attempted to justify his actions.

--- "Well, Diane—"

Diane shook her head and corrected him.

--- "Ms. Miller."

He did not like this woman.

--- "Ms. Miller, I figured that in running out of the house for their lives, they would need a few of the essentials."

Diane started to name essential things versus person items.

--- "Toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, all examples of essential things that would be normal for you to pick up. Tampons, underwear, and condoms, I'd rank as personal!"

Sam thought it was the weirdest thing ever; it was a bit too personal for her taste, but she was grateful for them nonetheless. She took an outfit he purchased, a pair of underwear, a toothbrush, and lotion, and brought them into the bathroom for Kristina.

--- "Krissy, I put a few things on the counter for you. Looks like you won't be going commando, after all!"

Kristina stuck her head out of the shower.

--- "Really? That's great! Thanks Sammy."

Sam walked to the door and called out to her sister.

--- "Sweetie, don't thank me, thank Agent Raynor."

Sam heard her sister's exclamation of surprise, but decided to ignore it and go back into the living room. Unfortunately, there was an awkward silence that filled the air.

--- "Um, Mol, baby, why don't you go get ready to take a bath?"

Sam grabbed a bag and handed it to her sister.

--- "Remember, honey, don't get into the tub until Mom or I come in to wrap your arm; you can't get the cast wet."

They had to constantly remind the eight year old of this fact because she had to get the cast redone once already for getting it soaked in the tub.

--- "Okay."

Molly ran out of the room and headed to the second bathroom. Diane began to interrogate Agent Raynor.

--- "This time last year, you were threatening to have Sam's PI license application rejected, and WORSE, you wanted to have her arrested. Now you're trying to date my best friend, and you buy her UNDERWEAR? That's a bit different, wouldn't you agree, Agent Raynor?"

--- "Ms. Miller, I did not think anything of it. I heard about the explosion, I went to the store, and picked these things up for her and her children. I think that's anything any normal person would do."

--- "TOOTHBRUSH, TOOTHPASTE, LOTION, that's what you should've bought. Underwear? That's craziness. Borderline harassment!"

--- "What did you bring for them, Ms. Miller?"

Diane was about to answer, but she remembered what it was that she actually did bring.

--- "It doesn't matter what I brought with me. The point of the matter is that Alexis and I have been best friends for years, while you've been a thorn in her side for some time up until recently. I just want to know why."

Alexis had been silent on the matter, letting Diane handle this. She honestly did not know what to say about the whole situation. She had to admit that it was incredibly strange, but she always thought that Agent Raynor was a strange kind of guy; this was one of the reasons she was not interested in dating him.

--- "You know, Diane, I appreciate the thought. Thomas, thank you for getting these things for us. Um, I don't mean to seem rude, but I've got a lot of things to take care of, so if you don't mind—"

He took the hint.

--- "Okay, no problem Alexis. Please give me a call if you need anything. And remember, what I asked you the other day."

--- "Sure."

He grabbed his coat, and leaned forward and gave Alexis a kiss on the cheek; she blushed.

When he left Diane and Sam turned looked at her in surprise.

--- "WHAT the HELL was THAT?!"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders,

--- "I don't know— Molly what are you doing in here? You should be in the tub."

Molly was standing in the living room wrapped in a towel.

--- "My cast!"

--- "Oh yea. Sorry. Come here."

Diane thought Molly was too adorable. She looked at Sam.

--- "That little one is the cutest of you three terrors."

Sam smiled and rolled her eyes.

--- "Thanks Diane."

Diane tried again to get the information she had been seeking earlier from Sam.

--- "So, who did you take the walk of shame for last night? You've got an inexplicable glow to you. It was that good, wasn't it?"

Alexis stopped wrapping Molly's arm to look at Diane.

--- "Will you stop being nosey?"

Sam smirked.

--- "Um, I'm gonna go see if Kristina's out of the shower."

Diane scowled.

--- "Come on! Why is everyone keeping me in the dark! Who was it? Jason? Lucky?"

Sam winked at Diane.

--- "Come on Mol. I'll fill the tub with bubbles for you if you can get Kristina to get out of the bathroom."

Alexis called after Sam.

--- "Sam! Don't start trouble."

--- "Mom! I'm hurt! I would NEVER start any trouble."

Alexis shook her head. When Sam and Molly were out of sight, she and Diane sat down and chatted.

--- "Alexis, how are you really holding up?"

Alexis rubbed her face.

--- "Honestly, Diane? I'm terrified. I mean, Sam had her bag packed and was ready to leave the house. If she and Kristina didn't start fighting—"

"Fighting? Like physically fighting?"

Alexis smiled and laughed at the memory.

--- "Yea, they were on the floor pulling each other's hair! I was shocked! If Kristina had not been so adamant to stop her from leaving, and I didn't walk in—"

--- "Did you beat the brats?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "NO! I don't beat my kids, Diane—"

Diane shrugged.

--- "ANYWAY… I grabbed them both by the ears and pulled them off of each other—"

Diane took a sip from her drink.

--- "Yup, that's better than beating them. Yank them up from the floor by the ears—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Are you going to let me finish, Diane?"

Diane put her hand up.

--- "SORRY!"

Alexis sighed.

--- "I don't know. I just think about that crap we went through in the past six months, and I wonder if they're all related? I mean, Kristina and this Jeff guy, Sam being stabbed by him, Molly getting kidnapped by that same freak after he escaped from prison, I getting stabbed, and then now, Mac tells us that the first explosion and the car accident were intentional. I mean, who could be after us?"

--- "What about your stepmother? You've told me about her antics."

Alexis was shocked; that witch was the last person on her completely empty list of people out to kill her and her daughters.

--- "Helena? I mean, she's a lunatic, but I can't see her going so far as to try and kill me AND my girls; especially if the Jeff thing is related. I think that would be low, even for her—"

--- "Alexis, she killed your mother in front of you."

Alexis nodded in agreement.

--- "Yea, but she's got limits; I think that having my daughters get kidnapped by a pedophile might be a bit twisted for her. Even she can't be that sick."

Diane shrugged.

--- "You'd know better than me.

******************************

_--- "I've been cheated out of the estate because of you. If I didn't need you alive, I would certainly have had you killed a long time ago! You wretched adulterous hag!"_

_The photo of Ms. Alexander and Mr. Davidovitch was thrown against the wall; the frame shattered into pieces._

*****************************

Nobody was happy that they were going to be living at Wyndemere indefinitely. In addition, Alexis refused to allow them all to have their own rooms, despite the fact that there was more than enough space to accommodate them all; Alexis refused to have her daughter's spread out. As a result, she had Alfred put them in two adjoining rooms, otherwise known as the master bedroom with the attached nursery. Her girls were not in the least bit pleased. Sam of course, was the most vocal.

--- "Mom, you have GOT to be joking right now."

Alexis looked at her.

--- "What's the matter with it?"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Do you SEE it? There's ONE bed in the master, and two twin size beds in the nursery. Did you notice the baby Greek Gods painted throughout the nursery! What the hell is this?! This is a bit extreme, EVEN for you! I'm sorry, but I'm not sharing a bed with any of you for an indefinite amount of time, AND I'm not sleeping in that nursery. I want my own room."

Even Molly was upset about their current living conditions.

--- "Mommy, this room is ugly! They tried to make it cute, but it looks like it was for some kind of old man baby! It's like a room Benjamin Button should have had!"

Alexis glared at Sam.

--- "You want to tell me how your sister saw Benjamin Button? That movie was PG-13; she was seven when it came out."

Sam put her hands up innocently.

--- "Mom, I haven't even seen that movie. Perhaps you should look at your middle daughter."

Kristina was trying to sneak away; she knew that Alexis hated it when she volunteered to take her sister to the movies, only to have them not only see a movie appropriate for Molly's age, but in addition, one that Kristina might have wanted to see, even if it was inappropriate for her little sister. Alexis pulled Kristina towards her.

--- "Benjamin Button?"

Kristina shrugged her shoulders.

--- "How am I getting into trouble for something that happened last year? I mean, it's not like I took her to see the Texas Chainsaw Massacre like Sam did! Remember? Mol had nightmares for like a month! AND SHE WAS LIKE FOUR! Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations for a PG-13 movie?"

Sam stood behind her mother nodding her head at Kristina, and giving her the thumbs up for the most ridiculous cop out ever.

--- "Shut up Sam."

Alexis turned around and looked at her eldest daughter.

--- "Mom, I didn't say a word! Right Molly?"

Molly nodded.

--- "She was just giving the thumbs up, Mommy. She didn't say anything."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "You girls are a mess. And to answer your question, Kristina, the reason you're getting in trouble for something that happened a year ago is because it's something that I can control. Since everything else seems to be going haywire around us, I guess I can revel in the fact that I can punish you for something that was overlooked. So…. What shall the punishment be? … Oh, I know! You can sleep in the Benjamin Button room with Sam."

Sam interrupted.

--- "Whoa, whoa, whoa! How in the world did I get into this mess? I haven't slept in a twin-sized bed in YEARS! Um, nope… I'm not having that."

Nikolas walked into the room.

--- "Great, right on time. Nik, please tell your aunt that these accommodations are UNACCEPTABLE."

Nikolas gave Alexis, Sam, Kristina, and Molly each a kiss on the cheek.

--- "I'm so grateful that you're all alright."

Alexis put her hand on her nephew's cheek.

--- "Thank you, honey."

--- "Now, why exactly are you making these girls suffer by having them stay in this room?"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Now, don't you start too! I want them close to me. I almost lost them one too many times, so excuse me if I'm a little paranoid when it comes to leaving them."

Nikolas nodded his head.

--- "Yea, I definitely see your point—"

Sam smacked him hard on the arm.

--- "NIK! Really, you're supposed to be on our side! Jesus, at least have me in a separate room. I'm beginning to feel like I'm Kristina's age—"

Alexis pointed at her daughter.

--- "You certainly act like you are."

Kristina took offense to that comment.

--- "HEY! What in the world does that mean!? I'm mature for my age."

Molly put her two cents into the conversation.

--- "You watch cartoons."

Sam jumped in.

--- "You act like THE biggest baby when you're sick."

It was Nikolas' turn.

--- "You call your mother Mommy when you're upset."

Everyone turned to look at Alexis for her addition to the list of Kristina's immature tendencies. She put her hands up.

--- "Nope, I'm not in this."

Kristina crossed her arms and sat on the bed moping. Alexis looked at her and snapped her fingers in her daughter's direction.

--- "There we go! You mope and pout like an eight year old."

Molly pouted.

--- "HEY!"

Alexis smiled, bent down, and kissed the littlest Davis on the nose.

--- "And point proven."

The family all laughed. Sam looked around.

--- "Hey, where's Spencer?"

--- "He's with the tutor.

That reminded Alexis.

--- "Nikolas, will you be able to have your tutor teach Kristina and Molly?"

Kristina groaned on the bed.

--- "Oh my God…"

Alexis waved her hand in Kristina's direction.

--- "Yea, yea, I know, sweetie, you don't want to be tutored; you want to go to school and be with your friends. I suck, and I'm ruining your life."

Kristina rolled her eyes and rolled over on the bed to not face her family. Nikolas and Sam smiled and shook their heads.

--- "Yes, that won't be a problem."

Sam decided to ask again about the room situation.

--- "Seriously, Nik, this is NOT going to work for me. Can you PLEASE put us someplace else?"

Nikolas thought about the many rooms in the castle, while Alexis smacked her daughter on the arm.

--- "Why are you being so difficult?"

Sam smirked at her mother.

--- "You haven't seen difficult yet. Not until you've got us four in this room. Or even better, when you, Krissy and me sync up, THAT'LL be fun. All those added hormones! O.M.G.!"

Nikolas did not want to listen to this conversation.

--- "Way too much information Sam. Okay, here's a solution. On the east wing we've got two bedrooms, they're not as big as this one, but none the less, there are three bedrooms--"

Alexis knew Wyndemere very well.

--- "Honey, the east wing is the former servants quarters."

Nikolas nodded his head.

--- "Um, that was a little bit of an exaggeration when you said that the rooms are not as large as this one. Nikolas, they're tiny!"

He shrugged his shoulders.

--- "Alexis, you want the girls close by, Sam wants her own room—"

Alexis sighed.

--- "You know what, that's fine. Um, for my sanity, Kristina and Molly will share a room, Sam and I will have our own rooms."

While Kristina had a small tantrum on the bed, Sam breathed a sigh of relief.

--- 'Thank God!"

Alexis tapped her eldest daughter's chin, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Honey, you're welcome. By the way, you don't have to call me God, Mom's just fine."

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled.

--- "Loser."

She followed Nikolas out of the room.

******************************

Agent Raynor stood at the pier looking at Wyndemere in the distance.

******************************

**_Be forewarned:_**_ The next two weeks will be crazy as I get my assignments done early. With the holiday coming, I'm going to be partying starting on Friday night and ending Monday, soooo don't expect an update then. THEN, the following weekend, I might be flying out to Florida. Sooooo IF I decide to go, I'm not promising an update that weekend either._

_This is just a word of caution… So get your parachutes ready._


	15. Puzzles

Sorry Demon, I decided to go get some Spumoni ice cream (my fave! Such a NYer I am)… I hope your foot isn't broken as I kept you waiting longer than intended!

Disappointed I am with the lack of response to your reward of Chapter Fourteen! FOR SHAME! The Cliffhanger God is very angry!!! You know what that means… {evil laughter}

Oh yea, and I forgot to mention, I inserted a little something in there for** Liv, SamFanFirst** and that crazy **Demon** I thought they'd enjoy...

~Mel.

BTW, I'm NOT going to Florida; so yay for you and for my mother's wallet (since it was on her dime). In addition, I WILL post 2 chapters before the holiday; then you'll have several days of earnest anticipation. I can guarantee that you will WANT to review BOTH CHAPTERS.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Puzzles**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

It had been only week since they moved into Wyndemere and everyone was on edge. The east wing was abnormally small for a castle of such magnitude; there was one bathroom, and the three bedrooms were tiny. Kristina resented the fact that she had to share a room the size of her bathroom at the lake house with her eight year old sister. Alexis was growing tired of her daughters' constant bickering, and dealing with her eldest daughter's foul mood; Sam was beginning to show signs of cabin fever.

--- "Mom, I need some air! I'm suffocating in this place."

Alexis put her newspaper down.

--- "Samantha, if you're suffocating, open the window in your room."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Oh, you mean my CLOSET?"

Kristina walked into her mother's tiny room when she heard the two women arguing again.

--- "Seriously, what gives with these tiny rooms? I mean, this castle is HUGE, but these rooms are smaller than our bathrooms at home!"

Alexis stood up and looked at her two daughters.

--- "You know what? You two are the most ungrateful people I know! Look, I understand that you miss home, Kristina. And Sam, God knows you've made your opinions quite clear over the fact that you miss your freedom, but how about this? If I didn't keep tabs on you girls, and insist that we stay in close proximity of each other, there would but a greater chance that you'd miss your LIVES. What is so difficult for you girls to understand? SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL US! I'M TRYING TO KEEP US SAFE!"

Sam tried to interrupt.

--- "But Mom—"

--- "Bu Mom nothing, Samantha! The cops are all over this; let them do their jobs. Until then, sit tight. I'm not happy with these accommodations either, but at least we're all alive and breathing."

Suddenly the bell for lunch rang.

Alexis pushed past her daughters; the three of them in that tiny room was making her claustrophobic.

--- "Here's your chance to get out of your rooms; lunch is ready."

Sam had not been feeling well all day; her back had been hurting her for days. She blamed it on the crappy beds.

--- "I'm gonna pass; my back still hurts."

Alexis approached her daughter; she reached over trying to pull the back of her shirt up, but Sam wiggled away.

--- "Mom! Will you quit it?"

Alexis rolled her eyes and pulled Sam back to her.

--- "Samantha, you were paralyzed but six months ago, I want to see if your back near the wound is swollen. Patrick said that since you're in physical therapy and they're stimulating the area to ensure there's no scar tissue, you should be fine; but honey, you haven't been in weeks."

Sam relented and let her mother look at her back.

--- "Mom, you know that he told you that like five months ago, right? I'm pretty sure that the likelihood of scar tissue forming is pretty slim."

Alexis felt the wounded area; it felt and looked normal. She pulled Sam's shirt down.

--- "I don't care if you think I'm being paranoid Sam. Until you've completely stopped needing to go to therapy, then I won't worry. I don't want there to be any chance of a setback for you because I know how happy you are to be free of the wheelchair, the crutches, and the cane. So stop being difficult."

Sam knew that her mother was fussy over all of them because she loved them; she was incredibly appreciative over her mother's over the top paranoia. She wrapped her arms around her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Thanks Mom. I hope know how much I appreciate and love you; even if I think that you're completely insane."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter.

--- "Honey, I'm a Cassidine; being crazy comes with the territory. How I didn't peg you for one all those years before I knew you were mine is mind-boggling. Now go lie down; I'll bring you some food later."

_**************************_

Jason and Spinelli were not having any luck finding Sonny's whereabouts. He had been gone for months, but all of the five families claimed innocence; Jason was beginning to believe that they were telling the truth.

--- "Spinelli, I need you to check the cameras again for the last images of Sonny before he disappeared."

Spinelli went through the video footage for what seemed like the thousandth time; there was nothing there that they had not already combed through. Everything they checked out led to a dead end. The van Sonny was thrown into was unmarked and no plates were visible. Spinelli checked all of the surrounding area cameras but the van seemed to have disappeared from sight after leaving Sonny's grounds. Whoever took the mob leader was quite skillful in their delivery.

--- "Stone Cold, there is a clearly a missing piece to the puzzle. I have scoured every piece of evidence in this investigation, and the Jackal has been unable to procure anything that will link together these pieces involving Mr. Sir's disappearance."

_**************************_

_She was twenty-five and in an unhappy marriage. She had had two sons by her husband, but their conception was anything than from love. The sight and touch of him repulsed her._

_He was having an affair; she knew it. She was having an affair; he knew that. The only difference between their indiscretions was the fact that she had never borne children for the man she had been involved with._

_**************************_

Once Alexis and her sisters left for lunch, Sam stuffed her bed and snuck out of her room, tiptoed across the hall, down a side staircase, and through the library, to servants' closet.

--- "Sh!t, the amount of time that took, they've got to be back from lunch already."

She quickly rummaged through the closet until she found an outfit that would fit her properly. She changed out of her t-shirt and shorts, and into a maid's uniform.

--- "Okay, now, that was easy. Next step is to get the hell out of here."

_**************************_

Since she had no intention of leaving the castle without her daughters, and Agent Raynor was continuously pestering her about going on a date with him, Alexis figured that the best thing to do would be to invite him for dinner. Alexis figured that if he formally met her daughters, and her nephews, along with the ridiculous amount of staff Nikolas hired to take care of him and Spencer, Thomas Raynor might run for the high hills; too much Cassadine and help in one room certainly had a way of driving people mad.

Sam had been sleeping the entire afternoon and evening. Alexis needed her daughter awake and down for this dinner; she could always count on her to do something ridiculous when she sensed that her mother needed her to run interference.

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis was going on a date with some arrogant doctor Diane had fixed her up with. Because Kristina was ten, and Molly three, she could not very well leave them alone in the house; she called Sam over to babysit._

_--- "Honey, I need you to come by and watch your sisters for a few hours. Are you busy?"_

_Sam was enjoying the company of a certain man, at the time, but he was not interesting enough in conversation to keep her from seeing her little sisters._

_--- "Uhh… hmm… Yea… [ahem]… yea, Mom."_

_Alexis looked at her phone strangely._

_--- "Samantha, what are you doing?"_

_Sam blushed._

_--- "Me? Mom, I'm not doing ANYTHING; just lying here."_

_Alexis rolled her eyes._

_--- "Samantha, tell the guy you're with that he has thirty minutes, then you need to come---[ahem] GO, to your mother's house."_

_--- "Sorry, Mom…. I have to go—"_

_Sam hung the phone on her mother knowing that she would hear about it later; for now, she was just riding the wave. Alexis hung up embarrassed at what she had just heard; she really needed to scold her daughter about picking up the phone during those moments._

_When she arrived home a few hours later, her date would not get the hint and leave._

_--- "Thanks Tim for the date."_

_As he leaned in for a kiss, Alexis slipped off the couch. _

_--- "Um, I need to go check on my daughters. Did Diane tell you that I had THREE daughters?"_

_She hoped that by telling him that, he would be terrified and run off; she was wrong._

_--- "Yea, I love kids!"_

_Alexis turned and rolled her eyes, trying to think of a way to get him out of her house; she was going to have to kill Diane for this horrible set-up._

_She checked on her two youngest girls before walking into Sam's room. Sam was lying on her bed flipping through a magazine._

_--- "Hey Mom. How was your date?"_

_Alexis sat on the bed and shook her head._

_--- "He's still here—"_

_Sam smiled._

_--- "WAY TO GO, MOM!"_

_She glared at her daughter; Sam got the hint._

_--- "Oh, that bad, huh?"_

_Alexis smacked Sam on the arm._

_--- "I haven't slept with him Sam; I want him out of my house, but he's not getting the hint."_

_Sam got off the bed and started undressing._

_--- "Samantha, what are you doing?"_

_Sam winked at her mother._

_--- "Just go back out there and follow my lead; I'll save you."_

_Alexis reluctantly went back into the living room to find her date dressed only in his boxer shorts._

_--- "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"_

_He shrugged his shoulders._

_--- "I figured that you were going to make yourself comfortable."_

_She hissed at him so as not to wake up her sleeping daughters._

_--- "I told you that I was checking on my kids—"_

_Just then Sam walked into the front door wearing a short jean skirt, boots, and a revealing top. Her hair was down and she played with it seductively as she stared at Tim._

_--- "Hey Mom, I'm sorry I'm late."_

_Alexis was shocked at how quickly Sam managed to change and run around the house; her daughter managed to make herself look like some young teenager attempting to dress like an adult. Alexis figured that was the look Sam was going for._

_--- "Samantha, it's one in the morning; you're beyond late!"_

_Sam smiled at her mother and looked at the man standing in the middle of the living room in his boxers._

_--- "Well, from the looks of it, it's just about midnight."_

_Alexis' eyes travelled toward where Sam's eyes were looking; Tim did the same._

_--- "Oh sh!t."_

_Alexis feigned horror at the man's obvious erection._

_--- "SHE'S FIFTEEN YEARS OLD YOU PERVERT! GET OUT!"_

_Sam was in tears from holding in her laughter as he scrambled to grab his clothes and leave._

_Once he was gone, Alexis collapsed onto the couch in a fit of laughter; Sam joined her._

_--- "That was genius honey! Where did you get those clothes from?"_

_Sam smiled._

_--- "The skirt's Krissy's; the top, well, it's mine."_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "I've got to stock your closet with new clothes."_

_**End of Flashback.**_

Alexis walked into Sam's room.

--- "Honey, I let you sleep all afternoon and evening, so you can't be mad that I'm waking you up now."

She went to rub her daughter's back, but it was soft. Alexis pulled the sheets back to see pillows in the place her daughter was supposed to occupy.

--- "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

She ran out of Sam's room and into Kristina's room.

--- "Krissy, I need you to run and tell Alfred to get the launch ready, I need to go get your sister."

Kristina pretended to be shocked, but Alexis was all-knowing.

--- "YOU KNEW?! What the hell is wrong with you? I'll handle you later; just do as I asked."

Kristina knew her mother was going to ground her to eternity for helping Sam; she was going to kill her sister for that.

_**************************_

Holding a bouquet of flowers, Agent Raynor stepped onto the launch to Wyndemere. As he was being brought over to the dark castle, he reached in his pocket and stared at the family picture he always carried; he passed his finger over the image of his two boys.

_**************************_

Sam opened the door to her PI agency to find Spinelli and Jason already there.

--- "Hey, I'm glad you guys are here. The sooner we can find this son of a bitch that's trying to kill my family, the sooner things can go back to normal."

Because neither Jason nor Spinelli was having any luck with the Sonny search, they decided to give Sam's cause more attention than they had been previously.

--- "Nice outfit Fair Samantha."

When she took her jacket off, she forgot that she had been wearing a maid's outfit.

--- "Thanks Spinelli."

Jason did not say anything, but looked at her longingly; Sam simply smiled in his direction.

--- "Ok, I want to find all of the surveillance from my house, and from my apartment before it exploded. I think our best bet is to look at the garage and see if there was any suspicious movement in there, or if there's any similarity to the dark sedan that ran my family off of the road. I mean, whoever blew up my apartment had to have gotten in there somehow. And with my car, they obviously snuck onto the property—"

Spinelli stared at the computer in utter shock.

--- "THE MISSING PIECE!"

Sam stared at him waiting for some clarification. Jason noticed what Spinelli had just seen.

--- "That van that just past down Lakeview is the same one that Sonny was thrown into! Whoever is trying to kill your family took Sonny!"

Sam suddenly felt lightheaded; Spinelli jumped up and gave her his seat.

--- "Fair Samantha, are you alright?"

She nodded her head.

--- "Yea, I'm alright. I think that I'm just in shock over this. Do you think that mob is after my family? Wait, WHY would the mob be after us!?"

Jason handed her a bottle of water.

--- "No, I think that his disappearance was a diversion. It was a very good one actually. Whoever took him knew that his organization would be focused on finding him than trying to figure out who was after his daughter's family."

Sam nodded her head in agreement.

--- "That makes sense."

Now that they had another piece of the puzzle, the one that connected Sonny's disappearance with the attempts on her family's lives, the three spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to get a lead on the mastermind of these attempts.

--- "Okay, so we've figured out that whoever is doing this, they're after my family, rather than Sonny. The person knows my family's whereabouts well enough to know where I lived and my Mom's house. What else? There's so much missing here!"

Suddenly her phone began to ring.

--- "Hello?"

Kristina was on the line.

--- "Sam, you need to get your ass here right now. Mom's freaking out."

Sam knew that it was a matter of time before Alexis checked on her; she was actually shocked that it had been this long.

--- "Okay, I'm coming back now."

Sam grabbed her coat and ran out of the agency. Jason followed her out.

--- "I'll drive you."

She smiled at him.

--- "Thanks."

_**************************_

_--- "Is everything in place?"_

_The person on the other line chuckled._

_--- "Yes; everything should go according to plan."_

_--- "Perfect."_

_**************************_

Alexis nearly ran over Agent Raynor as he walked up the pathway to the house.

--- "I'm sorry, Thomas. Date's off."

He ran after her, grabbing her arm to stop her from continuing on.

--- "Wait, why?"

She pulled her arm back.

--- "I need to find my daughter."

She ran pushed passed him, as he stood there looking dumbfounded and rather annoyed.


	16. Cold

**This is a short, but concentrated one. **

**I stayed up until 3a just to get this posted for you… This site only resets the postdate at 3, otherwise by the time everyone wakes up in the morning, you will not know whether or not I posted a new chapter because it won't be at the top of the page. AH! **

**So Enjoy…**

**~Mel.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Cold**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Alexis got onto the launch thinking of the many ways she was going to make that stubborn daughter of hers suffer for disappearing the way that she did. She did not care that Sam was 29 years old; she was still her mother and she had every right to make Sam rue the day that she disobeyed direct orders to stay in the castle. Alexis did not understand what made Sam think that it would be smart to run off for hours when someone was obviously trying to kill them! The part that got Alexis even more upset was the fact that Kristina was in on it! She did not know what she was going to do to her two girls, but a good old-fashioned beat down was starting to sound like a good idea.

Alexis was jolted from her murderous thoughts when she felt her feet getting wet. She looked down and noticed that the floor was filling with water at a fast rate; they were not even close to the pier yet. As a matter of fact, they were no longer moving. When Alexis looked at the driver, he was slumped over the steering wheel; his hand was on his chest. She was panicked; she did not know how to swim.

_**************************_

Alfred welcomed Agent Raynor into Wyndemere; he announced him to the two Davis girls, Spencer and Nikolas.

Nikolas rose from his seat to greet him.

--- "Hello, I apologize for my aunt and cousin; Sam's run off, and Alexis has gone to kill her."

Agent Raynor laughed at the thought.

--- "I can imagine; she nearly ran me over when she ran down the path."

Molly laughed.

--- "Sammy doesn't know what's coming to her."

Agent Raynor took the seat designated for him and smiled.

--- "I bet."

_**************************_

Sam hopped into Jason's SUV. He sped down three blocks to the pier.

--- "Shit, my mother is going to murder me."

Jason smirked.

--- "I like that you and Alexis have gotten close. I know how much you've always wanted a family. It's nice how much you guys love each other."

Sam smiled at the thought.

--- "Yea. I mean, she treats me like I'm some kind of a teenager instead of a 29 year old woman, but you know what? Before her, I never had that; I never had a mother who actually gave a sh!t about me. So, I don't mind it when she does that. Like, I KNOW that as soon as I get to Wyndemere, she's going to lock me in that closet they call a room."

Jason was about to question her about the closet of a room, but he had just pulled up to the pier and he noticed the launch barely visible in the middle of the water, and Alexis holding on for dear life.

--- "Sam…"

Sam heard the sense of urgency in Jason's voice. She looked at him and noticed that he was pointing to the water. She followed his finger to a tiny figure barely holding on to what was left of the launch.

--- "MOM!"

_**************************_

_--- "The launch driver will be dead within a few minutes. The boat should begin its descent shortly thereafter."_

_--- "How do you know he will be dead?"_

_--- His heart pill for this evening was conveniently substituted._

_**************************_

Sam jumped out of the car and started tearing her clothes off as she ran to the pier; if she wanted to reach her mother quickly, she needed to get rid of anything that would constrain her swimming. She jumped into the freezing water and swam harder than she had ever swum before; she was grateful for her agility in the water as she reached her mother in no time.

--- "Mom!"

Alexis was barely holding onto the sunken vessel.

--- "Honey, I swear if I didn't need to hold onto this thing to keep from drowning, I would smack some sense into you."

Sam smiled at her mother knowing that she was telling her the truth.

--- "Ok, you can do that as soon as I get you to shore."

Sam needed to get her mother and herself back to land quickly because she was freezing.

--- "Grab onto me, ok?"

Alexis did as she was told.

Sam did not expect the weight of her mother to be such a hindrance; on a normal day, she would have been able to handle it without a problem. Unfortunately, because this was really the first time that she had been swimming in quite some time and she was still not 100% in strength, getting her mother to land was going to be a tougher task than she had anticipated.

She swam as hard as she could, but each movement was more difficult than the last.

--- "Mom, I know you're terrified of water, but I want you to try to concentrate on floating for me, okay? Relax your body; if you're tense, you'll just sink."

Alexis, even in the darkness could tell that her daughter was growing pale; as much as she tried to relax, the thought that her daughter was weakening was making her nervous.

--- "Honey, are you alright?"

Before Sam could respond, a speedboat zoomed up to them; it was Jason's. Alexis was grateful because she sensed that Sam was not in good shape.

--- "Oh thank God."

Jason gave her a hand onto the boat, and reached for Sam. Sam tried to reach her hand out to him, but her body was not complying. She was so cold. She couldn't even move; she began to sink into the water. Jason noticed this, so he jumped in after her. He quickly got her, and brought her back onto the boat; she was shivering and her lips were purple. He handed her to Alexis.

--- "Keep her warm!"

Jason handed her a blanket; she wrapped her daughter in it. Jason sped the boat to the pier; he needed to get Sam to the hospital. Alexis held Sam close to her, and ensured that the blanket was tightly wrapped around her tiny body.

--- "Honey, you stay with me. I will not let you leave me, do you hear me? I still have to kick your ass for that stunt you pulled!"

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "Mom, I'm sorry."

She passed out.

_**************************_

On the condition that she got herself examined, Jason promised Alexis that he would stay with Sam and report anything that he found out about her immediately. Alexis agreed.

When she was being examined, Kristina ran into the room; the doctor tried to stop her.

--- "Miss, you can't be in here."

Kristina looked at the man as though he were dumb.

--- "The HELL I can't! That's my mother!"

Alexis did not need an argument to form between the doctor and her teenaged daughter.

--- "Doctor, it's fine. Let her in."

Kristina walked in terrified that she would lose her mother. Alexis noticed the look on her daughter's face.

--- "Sweetheart, I'm fine. I'll be fine."

The doctor interrupted.

--- "You've got hypothermia."

Alexis was getting agitated by this man's poor bedside manner.

--- "Well, will you assure my terrified daughter that I'll be fine please?!"

The doctor nodded his head.

--- "Your mother will be fine. She just needs to stay here overnight."

Kristina wiped the tears from her face.

--- "Mom, where's Sam?"

Alexis knew that she was going to be fine, but she didn't know what to tell Kristina about Sam because she honestly did not know.

--- "Sweetie, she's getting checked out right now; I don't know how she is."

Kristina pleaded with her mother.

--- "What do you feel?! You say that you can always feel if we're okay. Look at what happened with Molly. Mom, what do you feel?"

Alexis did not have a good feeling about this at all, but she could not allow herself to tell Kristina that. She gave her daughter a sad smile.

--- "Krissy, she's fighting."

Kristina began to sob at her mother's bedside; she had a feeling that this was not going to end well.

_**************************_

Patrick and Robin worked on Sam trying to get her body temperature up to normal ranges. They surrounded her with warmers, and changed her out of the wet undergarments she had dressed down into to rescue her mother. Nothing was working.

_**************************_

Lucky arrived at the hospital after Nikolas called him to let him know what had happened.

--- "Nikolas, how is she?"

Nikolas shook his head.

--- "I really don't know Lucky. I haven't heard anything yet."

Lucky looked at his brother, and spoke softly so that neither Molly nor Spencer could hear him.

--- "What aren't you telling me?"

Nikolas' eyes began to water.

--- "It doesn't look good. I heard Matt Hunter saying that she was in pretty bad shape."

_**************************_

Patrick and Robin walked into Alexis' room. This was the part of their job that they hated having to do. Alexis took one look at them and she knew.

--- "Get out."

_**************************_

**The next chapter should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.**


	17. Scars

Okay folks, so this should be the last chapter you get until after Labor day, but for those who've figured me out, you know how I am... I make no promises.

NOTE: _If you've subscribed to the story and you receive the email that it's posted MORE THAN ONCE, that's because this site seems to only refresh the list of stories once a day, SO since I gave you COLD at 3a EST (12a PST) that was my submission for the day. Therefore, I have to submit, wait a few, delete the chapter, and repost, then it refreshes back to the top of the list of newly updated stories. I do that because if you aren't on the alert, you won't have known that I've updated._

_~Mel._

_**PLEEEEEEEEEASE REVIEW, RANT, RAVE, WHATEVER.**_

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Scars**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Sam had been dead for two days, and Alexis still had not shed a single tear; she could not believe that her daughter was gone. Nothing made any sense to her. Molly cried, Kristina cried, Nikolas and Spencer cried, even the staff at Wyndemere shed tears for Samantha McCall, but her own mother could not bring herself to shed a single one for her daughter.

_**Flashback**_

_--- "Get out."_

_Kristina looked at her mother, and back at the doctors who had grim looks on their faces; she knew. Alexis was stone faced._

_--- "Alexis—"_

_Alexis pointed to the door and screamed._

_--- "YOU GET OUT OF MY ROOM RIGHT NOW!"_

_After they left, she turned to her middle daughter, whom Patrick and Robin wanted her to believe was now her eldest daughter._

_--- "Sweetie, they're lying. Sammy's fine."_

_Kristina shook her head, blinded by tears._

_--- "Mom—"_

_Alexis was calm and composed; she passed her hand along her daughter's face, wiping away her tears._

_--- "Kristina, I know your sister; Sam's fine. She's not gone."_

_Kristina could not believe her ears and her mother's denial._

_--- "Mommy, she's gone."_

_Alexis moved her hand away from her daughter's tear stained cheek and crossed her arms; she glared at Kristina, who was now hysterical, offering no words of comfort._

_--- "If you believe that, Kristina, you can leave too."_

_Her daughter sobbed for a few seconds, composed herself, and walked out of the room._

_Alexis remained in her hospital room refusing to see her daughter's body until after someone told her what she knew to be the truth; Sam was not dead._

_**End of Flashback**_

Alexis took a deep breath and began getting dressed for her daughter's funeral.

**************************************

Agent Raynor felt horrible for what Alexis was going through; he could not imagine losing his sons. He empathized with her because like her, he would do everything and anything to save, protect, and defend them.

**************************************

Kristina was beside herself with grief. Her mother was in denial and shutting everyone out, and her sister… Sam, she was gone. She sat in her sister's room holding on to a sweater that smelled just like her.

_**Flashback**_

_Kristina walked to the examination room; she had to see Sam for herself. A sob escaped from her lips as she saw her sister lying on the gurney, still as stone. When she composed herself, she walked up to the gurney and sat down beside her sister._

_--- "Sam, I can't believe that you're gone. I mean, this has to be a horrible, horrible dream. Look at you, Sammy, you look like you're just sleeping—"_

_Kristina passed her hand on her sister's cheek._

_--- "You're so cold."_

_She adjusted the sheet over her sister's body._

_--- Sammy, what are we supposed to do without you? What am I supposed to do without you?"_

_Kristina covered her face and started crying again._

_--- "God, there was a time when I just shut my emotions off instead of dealing with them. I was almost catatonic; nobody knew how to reach me. Nobody but you. You're the one that helped me learn how to open up. Do you remember when you thought you shot Diego Alcazar, and I witnessed it? I didn't talk for months! But you knew how to make me smile. When Mom was sick, you took care of me, and made me feel better whenever I was scared. Sam you taught me so much… I can't live without you! You are the best big sister that any girl could ever ask for; I don't know how to be that!"_

_Kristina put her head on her sister's chest and whispered as though she were afraid to wake Sam from her slumber. She played with her sister's hair._

_--- "Who's going to deflect all the attention from me to Mom? Do you know how much more I did wrong, that you got blamed for? Well, of course you know… you know everything, Sammy. … I don't know how to be as protective and courageous like you, Sammy! I'm the selfish one! YOU, You're the one who's always worrying about everybody else. I don't think that people ever gave you enough credit for that; I know that I definitely didn't."_

_She felt a sob come on again. She got up and moved away from her sister, not wanting her to see her cry._

_--- "GOD! How many times did you try and stop me from doing something stupid, but I didn't want to listen? How many times did I rail on you when you were only trying to help me? Sh!t, you risked your life to save me… you were paralyzed. Then you jumped into the freezing water to save Mom… and now…"_

_Kristina felt the sorrow rising within her. She felt like she was going to be sick. She ran to the trashcan and emptied her stomach. She rested her head on the counter for few seconds, collecting her thoughts._

_--- "I can't do this."_

_She ran out of the room._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Kristina looked at the dress that was purchased for her on the chair in the corner. She did not know how she was going to make it through the day.

**************************************

_--- "Well done; it wasn't the one that I was expecting, but well done none the less. One down, three to go."_

**************************************

They didn't let her see her sister lying in the hospital; everyone said that she was too young. Sam never treated her like a baby. She spoke to her like a regular person and if things were too difficult for her to understand, Sam spoke to her in a way that she would understand. Molly sat by herself in the room looking at Mr. Plumber. It was a lie; it was all a lie.

--- "I know that I'm too old to believe in magical bears, but Sam never lied to me before. Every time I was sick, you helped me get better in no time. When Sammy couldn't walk, I let you stay with her some nights. She started to walk again. WHY COULDN'T YOU HELP HER NOW?! You took my sister from me…"

The tears quickly ran down her face like a waterfall; she did not bother wiping them away.

--- "I hate you."

She grabbed the bear and began beating it; she pulled at the arms, the legs, the head. Molly tore into the bear until he lay in the tiny room in six pieces; the stuffing spilled out of each torn piece. When she realized what she had done, she fell to the floor sobbing as she retrieved Mr. Plumber's body parts.

--- "HOW COULD I DO THIS! OH MY GOD! SAMMY! I MESSED HIM UP! You have to fix him! You have to!"

She pulled the bear's pieces to her and rocked on the floor in the fetal position. She missed her sister more than words could ever convey.

Alexis stood outside of the room watching the whole thing; she could not comfort her; she did not know how.

**************************************

_--- "I'm leaving you."_

_Her husband laughed._

_--- "You're leaving me? How, pray tell, do you expect to care for yourself?"_

_She shook her head._

_--- "You don't worry about that! I'm taking the boys with me."_

_He grabbed and smacked her in the face._

_--- "You're not taking my children anywhere!"_

_She held her face; she did not know why she was shocked. It's not as though he had never beat her before. This time, however, she did not care; she was going to say what she had wanted to say all along._

_--- "You don't care about them! They're just children that happened to be born because you raped their mother! You only give a damn about those two bastards that were born to that whore—"_

_At the sound of her calling the woman he loved a whore, he beat his wife within an inch of her life._

_--- "You don't have to leave me, bitch; with her husband dead, I'm leaving you."_

_He kicked his wife in the gut, and walked out of the house._

**************************************

Alexis stood up at the funeral to speak. When she did so, people gasped remembering the rage and venom she spewed the last time she spoke at a loved ones funeral; they remembered Kristina. Alexis wore black, not from mourning, but because it was her daughter's favorite color. She had Nikolas go to the lake house to retrieve the safe that contained her family pictures and the bracelets she had made for her girls from the necklaces that once belonged to her mother; she wore Sam's bracelet.

She stood in front of Sam's casket for a few minutes before speaking. She spoke directly to her daughter.

--- "I look at you, my beautiful daughter lying there, and I still can't believe it. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that you're there and I'm here. Maybe I'm selfish and I just don't or can't deal with this aching pain in my heart, but I wish it had been me. I wish, Samantha, that it were me lying there, instead of you. I don't wish this because as a mother that's how it should be and that's how I should feel about losing my child; I wish it because then you'd be spilling your guts to someone WHO CAN NO LONGER HEAR YOU! DAMN IT! I am so angry with you, Samantha. More so than I think I've ever been with you before. What's the matter with you? Why couldn't you ever listen to me? Why did you always run off and do your own thing? That f-cking danger seeking side of you got you killed and now my heart's shattered into a thousand pieces.

They say that when someone you love dies, a PIECE of your heart seems to be missing; that's not true, Samantha. I feel like my WHOLE heart has been ripped from my chest."

Alexis shrugged.

--- "There's nothing there. I have this HOLE in my chest from where my heart used to be. You, Kristina, and Molly mean THE WORLD to me; there was no indistinguishable portion of my heart that you each occupied. My one heart, Samantha, belonged to you three ENTIRELY. And now…. the fact that you're gone—"

Alexis felt the sobs for the very first time rising through her body attempting to wash over the rage she felt, but she was strong; she kept the desire to melt onto the church floor in a puddle of tears at bay.

Kristina and Molly cried hysterically in each other's arms at the sight of their mother finally letting her emotions go. It was almost too much for them to take, but like their mother, and like their sister, they needed to be strong.

Alexis was getting angrier by the minute as she spoke to her still daughter.

--- "GOD, THIS ISN'T FAIR! I've seen you through too many things for you to be dead from the one thing that you have completely prided your self on… REALLY Samantha? THE WATER!? You're like a fucking fish! WAKE UP! You've survived far worse than all of this!"

She pounded on the casket and moved closer to her daughter.

--- "Your body is riddled with the scars of your life! I've seen every last one of them! Let's see, you've got the belt marks on your back and on your left breast from when that asshole raped you in that alley, you've got a bullet wound to the right of your spinal cord thanks to that son of a bitch Manny, the scar on the left side of your head from the brain surgery Patrick performed, a slight scar on your forehead from when you hit your head on the ground after being run over by Monica… what else? Um, you've got another scar on your right hip from that same accident, a matching one on your left hip from after you fell in the ditch when Karpov's men were after you, and a stab wound scar from when that bastard that paralyzed you.

Samantha, I know you! I know everything about you! It doesn't matter that I never raised you; I love you as though I had. I've seen you through so much, honey, and I just can't wrap my arms around this; this isn't your style! You've fought through so much, and have the scars to show for it! EVERY SINGLE TRAGIC THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU LEFT A SCAR ON YOUR BODY,_except this!_ Look at you now, Samantha, dead, and not a single new scar to show for it! I don't believe it…."

Alexis put her face so close to her daughter's face that she felt her own breath ricocheting off of Sam's face.

"GET UP! GET UP, SAMANTHA! I WON'T BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE GONE—"

Alexis stopped screaming and looked at her daughter lying in the coffin peacefully. She collapsed on top of Sam, finally letting the ocean of tears pour out. Her wails pierced the hearts of every person in that church.

**************************************

Lucky sat in the back of the church after the service was over; he was numb. He had wasted weeks, months, and years away from Sam; now she was gone from him forever. He did not know what to make of that.

Sam lived dangerously. She feared nothing. She would run into a burning building if that meant saving just one life. Why did he never realize that that was the reason he fell in love with her? Why did he make her courageousness a hindrance to his being with her? For the pain of losing her? No. This was far worse than he could have ever imagined. The pain of having lost her with out being with her, being engaged to her, or being married to her, because of his own fears was far worse than the pain he could have possibly have felt had he accepted her and stuck with her, but let her go nonetheless. If he had loved her for her, she would have known in death how much he had admired her strength, courage, and fearlessness.

Lucky felt like a coward.

**************************************

The family, Lucky, Jason, Spinelli, and Maxie, returned to Wyndemere from the funeral. Since her breakdown, Alexis had not said anything more to anyone; she simply carried her daughter's ashes in her arms. This was all she had left of her beautiful girl.

Molly and Kristina needed their mother's comfort, but she was unable to provide it to them.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis sat in the chair near the fireplace staring into the fire, thinking about the way in which Sam's body had been turned into the dust in the urn she now cradled.

--- "Mommy, please—"

She wondered if Sam was happy wherever she was, if she was finally with Lila or… Kristina.

Alexis got up, not hearing her daughters' pleas for her to look at them, to hold them. She walked out of the room; she needed some air. She was suffocating in that castle.

Nikolas and Lucky went to run after her, but Jason stopped them.

--- "LET HER GO."

**************************************

Agent Raynor sat in his apartment cradling a scotch while staring at the picture of his two boys.

--- "I can't do this."

He threw the glass against the wall.

**************************************

She walked along the Wyndemere grounds and stopped at the family mausoleum. She stopped in front of the plaque for Kristina Carter Cassidine.

--- "Honey, I want you to meet your Aunt Kristina; I think you would've liked her. She was so vivacious and full of life; just like you ar—were. I think that I want you two to be together."

She opened the door to the crypt and stepped inside.

--- "Oh my God."

She gasped. The urn fell to the ground shattering to pieces.

**************************************

**You will never know how difficult this chapter was for me to write…**


	18. Rewind

Wow, I love reviews. You all are fantastic. Thank you so much for the compliments; that chapter was super hard to write. I'm happy to see that I successfully captured the feeling that I was aiming for seeing as I made many of you cry. For anyone who's ever lost a loved one, I think that the chapter was significantly poignant. That's why it was so hard to write.

Well, because I depressed many of you, I've taken the time to work on this the past few days (even in those boring classes); here is another LONG CHAPTER!

Please keep the reviews coming!

~Mel

Forgot to mention... You REALLY will not be getting a new chapter until after Labor Day! LOL... You can certainly thank my 3 persistent reviewers, and the last one that begged for an update for Friday before Labor Day, lol, for THIS chapter! I was seriously going to have you all wait for this.

Now reward me with reviews! lol... They feed my soul, and strengthen my fingers for typing. ;o)

**Edited: 9/3/09 at 00:25.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Rewind**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Jason carried Sam into the General Hospital's Emergency Room, while pulling Alexis behind him.

--- "Liz! You have to help us!"

Elizabeth called the orderlies for two gurneys; they arrived quickly. Jason put Sam on one, while Elizabeth tried to coax Alexis onto the other one.

--- "Alexis please, you have to come with us; Let us help Sam."

Alexis felt weak, and she was freezing, but there was no way in hell that she was going to leave her daughter.

--- "Elizabeth, don't touch me. I'm not leaving my daughter."

Jason knew that Sam would never forgive him if her mother died because she refused to get any help because she was worried about her.

--- "ALEXIS! You're wasting time. Do you think that Sam would like to hear that you were too busy checking on her that you didn't get yourself checked out, especially after she jumped into the water to save you?"

She was in tears.

--- "But, I can't leave her. She needs me… I'm her mother."

Jason looked directly in the scared mother's eyes.

--- "Alexis, I promise you, I'll take care of her. When I know something, I'll let you know; I'll come and get you."

Alexis knew that he was right; if she did not get herself checked out and something were to happen to her, Sam would never forgive her.

--- "Fine."

She got onto the stretcher and watched as they wheeled her heroic and courageous daughter away from her.

**************************************

Elizabeth contacted Nikolas as soon as they got Alexis into the examination room and changed out of her wet clothing.

--- "Nikolas, you need to get to General Hospital right now. There's been an accident. Sam and Alexis—"

Nikolas, who was normally the model of impeccable courtesy and manners, hung the phone up on his friend.

--- "Kristina, Molly, get your coats, we need to get to the hospital. Alfred, I need you to make sure that the nanny gets Spencer ready for bed."

Kristina saw the look on her cousin's face.

--- "Nikolas, what happened?"

He did not want to worry Molly, so he had Alfred take her to the foyer to retrieve her coat.

--- "Sam and Alexis were in some kind of accident. I don't know what happened; all I know is that we need to get down there."

Kristina's heart plummeted to the pit of her stomach.

--- "Oh my God… Oh My God—"

Nikolas was aware of his cousin's proclivities to emotional breakdowns; he prayed that this was not going to be the time Kristina broke.

--- "Kristina, I don't mean to sound abrupt, but please, can you keep it together? We need to get to the hospital. We don't know if it's even anything serious yet. Just… just keep it together."

She nodded her head; she had to be strong for her sister and mother.

**************************************

Patrick and Robin worked on Sam trying to get her body temperature up to normal ranges. They surrounded her with warmers, and changed her out of the wet undergarments she had dressed down into to rescue her mother. Nothing was working.

--- "Okay, we're going to have to slowly inject her with fluids to get her temperature back up; people we don't have time to waste, so be sure to have everything I ask for in my hands the second I ask for it! Don't dawdle! PLEASE!"

Patrick had never spoken so roughly with the staff in an emergency situation before; he was typically calm and confident. Robin saw the look on her husband's face; she could tell that he was losing confidence.

--- "Is everybody ready? We will NOT let the D.A.'s daughter die. **This girl has been through enough crap to die like this. **Let's go."

**************************************

Everyone seemed to forget that Agent Raynor was still in the room. His heart hurt at the thought that Alexis might have been hurt. Even though she did not want to give him the time of day, he still felt as though he might have loved her. Or perhaps, he was in love with the thought of having someone again. Regardless of his feelings, he knew he could never have her.

**************************************

Jason thought about the problems that Sam's family was going through; whoever was coming after them was not going to stop until after her whole family, including herself, were all dead. Patrick and Robin saving Sam was not going to help the problem. They had to let her go; they had to let her die.

Jason knocked on the examination room window when it seemed that the chaos was beginning to die down; Robin stepped out to see what he had needed.

--- "Hey, you can tell Alexis that we've got her stabilized."

His stopped heart began to beat again as the **former, or perhaps still, **love of his life was doing what she did best: fighting.

--- "Ok, that's great. But, I can't tell Alexis anything like that. I need you to kill Sam."

**************************************

Alexis could not remember the last time she went to church. In fact, she could not even remember the last time that she had even prayed. She was sure that God had forgotten about her.

As the doctors examined her and asked her questions, she continued to pray, not even realizing that she was being spoken to.

--- "God, I know that I don't talk to you very often, I don't even go to church to worship you, and considering the fact that I've got three children by three different men, pretty much demonstrates that I haven't followed any of your rules… laws? Well, you know what I mean. Um, I know that I'm not in the position to bargain with you, but I'm going to give it a try anyway.

God, my daughter means the world to me; all three of them do. In her 29 years, she has been through and seen so much more than most people have in their lifetime. I know that a lot of these things were as a result of her own actions, but still, she's just been through so much. I ask you to please, if your plan is to take her from me, to take her from her sisters, and everyone else who loves her, please God, just take me instead. I would so much rather that you take me from her, and to take me from my other children, and let her live. Kristina and Molly will be fine without me; they'd have Sam to look after them. God, they'll lean on each other. If I lose Sam, or if God forbid, no pun intended, I were to lose my other girls, I don't think that I could ever live without them; I couldn't do it. **I realize how selfish this is, but **I could never be the same type of mother to my remaining children if I were to lose one of them.

God, you blessed me with three beautiful girls. When I thought that I had lost Sam for the first time, it took me so long to get over that. Actually, I don't think that I ever really did get over it; I just learned to live with the constant ache in my heart because I believed that she was with a family who loved her. But now this? After she risked her life to save mine, I can't lose her again. If I were to, my heart wouldn't ache, God; It would simply cease to exist."

**************************************

Nikolas, Agent Raynor, and the girls left the castle in a hurry. When they arrived at the launch, Nikolas immediately realized what kind of accident his aunt and cousin had been involved in as the launch driver was faced down in the water; a piece of the boat was visible above the water. He grabbed his cell and dialed for a new boat to arrive, along with a medic to take care of the driver.

Within 15 minutes, the family was on their way to the hospital.

**************************************

Robin was baffled by what Jason had just said.

--- "You need me to kill Sam?"

He nodded his head and pulled her to the side where no one could hear them.

--- "Look, there are people who are trying to kill her and her family. If they know that they failed again to kill her, then I can guarantee that she, her mother, and her sisters will be in even more danger than they're currently in."

Robin was shocked by the news of the danger to the Davis family, but she remained confused by his request.

--- "I'm sorry, but you want me to make these people's jobs easier for them by taking Sam out?"

He shook his head.

--- "I know that there are drugs and medications that you guys have that can make a person look as though they had died, even though they're still alive and breathing. I want you to do that. Nobody can know that she's still alive."

Robin thought about this for a few minutes; she knew that Jason would not have asked something like that of her if it weren't an emergency. Still, however, she was not happy about it.

--- "What about Alexis, Kristina, and Molly? They'll be devastated! I can't do that to them."

Jason knew that he had to eventually tell Sam's family the truth.

--- "Look, I know that I have tell them the truth, but I can't do that right now. I mean, to everyone, it has to look like the real thing. Alexis' reaction to everyone has to be authentic; the same thing goes for Kristina and Molly—"

Robin shook her head.

--- "Do you think that Sam would go for something like this? Letting her family mourn for her for no reason?"

--- "What are you talking about? There's a reason Robin! She'd be starting to save her family's life."

Robin relented.

--- "Fine, I'll talk to Patrick."

**************************************

Nikolas and the girls arrived at the hospital; he went directly to the nurses' station.

--- "Liz, is there any news?

She shook her head.

--- "I'm sorry, Nik. I can go check it out for you."

He nodded his head.

--- "Thanks."

Molly sat on the chair; she was close to tears. Nikolas wrapped his arms around her.

--- "It's going to be fine, Mol."

The poor child who looked so much like her sister shook her head.

--- "I forgot Mr. Plumber; Mommy and Sammy might need him."

Nikolas held his little cousin close to him.

--- "Molly, I'm sure that Mr. Plumber can work his magic from Wyndemere."

Molly nodded her head, hoping that what he said was actually true.

**************************************

While he had Matt working on a more stable Sam, Patrick walked out of the examination room annoyed that he was being interrupted in the middle of an emergency.

--- "This had better be good!"

Jason and Robin quickly relayed the information to him, along with the plan. He was not reluctant to have a family needlessly mourn over a loved one.

--- "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to inject my patient with a drug that'll stop her heart."

Robin rolled her eyes.

--- "You're not stopping her heart, Patrick; you know that! Why wouldn't you want to help?"

--- "Look, if we do this, Alexis needs to be told—"

Jason sighed.

--- "We CAN'T Patrick!"

Patrick shook his head.

--- "You don't understand… The labs just came back; Sam's pregnant!"

Jason and Robin were baffled.

--- "She's pregnant?"

Patrick nodded.

--- "Yea… she's about a month along."

Robin looked to Jason for a note as to what his plan of action would be.

--- "Look Patrick, I'll tell Alexis after Sam's funeral."

**************************************

Lucky arrived at the hospital after hearing about the accident.

--- "Nikolas, how is she?"

Nikolas shook his head.

--- "I really don't know Lucky. I haven't heard anything yet."

Lucky looked at his brother, and spoke softly so that neither Molly nor Spencer could hear him.

--- "What aren't you telling me?"

Nikolas' eyes began to water.

--- "It doesn't look good. I heard Matt Hunter saying that she was in pretty bad shape."

Lucky punched the wall.

--- "God! This is so messed up! Damn it! I need to see her! I need to tell her to fight."

He sunk to the floor with feelings of grief and regret.

**************************************

Kristina left her cousin and sister, and found her way to her mother's room. After a few words with the examining doctor, she was able to sit with Alexis.

--- "Mom, I'm worried."

Alexis took Kristina's hands into hers.

--- "Honey, I told you; she's fighting. Sam's a fighter. God, she's got frequent flyer miles in this hospital."

The comment made Kristina laugh; it was the truth.

--- "Yea, I guess you're right. … How are you doing?"

Alexis was not about to tell her daughter that she was scared sh!tless about Sam, or that her heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces; she needed to reassure her daughter that she was fine.

--- "Sweetie, I'm fine. I was just terrified in that water; God, I need to learn how to swim. If I had learned how to, maybe—"

Alexis buried her face in her hands; she was incredibly guilt-ridden. Kristina sat on the bed beside her mother.

--- "Mommy, it's not your fault; you're terrified of water."

Alexis shook her head in disagreement.

--- "If I would've just gotten over my stupid fear, your sister wouldn't be fighting for her life right now! Damn it, that girl is to damn courageous for her own good. When she gets out of this, I'm going to lock her in her room, and put her in a bubble whenever I have to let her out… you know for feeding time."

Kristina laughed at the idea that her mother thought that she would ever be able to keep Sam locked up.

--- "Sure, Mom, Sam would really let you do that! She fights you over everything! My God, she fell out of her wheelchair trying to prove a point to you! I mean, how many times did she need to get her back restitched?"

Alexis rolled her eyes at the memories; her daughter was as hard headed as could be.

--- "Yea, I guess you're right."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door; Patrick and Robin walked in with grim looks on their faces. Kristina took one look at them, and she already knew what they were there to tell them.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis glared at the two doctors whom she considered great acquaintances. She was not about to allow them to tell her lies.

--- "Get out."

**************************************

As Lucky was about to go find Liz to get Sam's room number, Kristina came running down the hall in tears. He caught her by the arm.

--- "Kristina, what's going on?"

She was hysterical.

--- "She's GONE!"

Nikolas heard his cousin and ran over to her; he held back his own tears for the sake of comforting the teen. He loved Sam; she was the most real and inhibition free member of their family.

--- "Come here, Krissy."

He held onto Kristina while she cried in his arms.

Lucky walked down the hall checking every room until he found the one Sam was lying in; she was by herself. He looked at her through the glass window before entering.

He kissed her forehead before kissing her lips.

--- "You're so beautiful."

He stroked her drying hair.

--- "How could this happen!? I swear, I've been so busy being terrified that your job might get you killed that I never bothered to realize that you were a hero. Sam, everything you did was heroic…. Even to the end. God, I never deserved you."

He looked at her for a long time until he thought he saw her chest rise and fall. He shook his head, wiped his tears, and walked out of the room.

**************************************

Alexis sat in her room quite disturbed by everyone's beliefs that her daughter was dead. Epiphany walked in to speak with her.

--- "Ms. Davis—"

Alexis looked at the nurse and was immediately annoyed.

--- "Epiphany, I'm sorry that you lost your son Stan, but please don't come in here to commiserate; my daughter's not dead."

Epiphany shook her head and sat down in the chair previously occupied by Kristina.

--- "Do you want to go see her?"

Alexis leaned back into the bed.

--- "What's there to see? Sam's fine. I'm not going to go see her just to prove that point."

Epiphany felt the same as Alexis did when she lost her son; she did not want to believe it. Like Alexis, she put on a façade that she was fine, and everything was alright, until one day she cracked and the floodgates were opened. She was determined to not allow Alexis to face that kind of pain alone.

--- "So why don't you go and see her because she might be missing her Mom? **You know how she is!**"

Alexis was getting angry by what she believed to be Epiphany's intrusiveness. She threw her pillow across the room.

--- "DAMN IT! I don't want to SEE my DAUGHTER because she's probably just ASLEEP! I don't think you people realize that she sleeps LIKE a dead person! NOTHING will wake her up until she's good and ready to wake up! WHEN she does, she'll come to me! Now you may leave! GET OUT!"

Epiphany walked over and picked up the pillow and placed it back on the bed.

--- "I see where Sam got it from…"

Alexis corrected the nurse.

--- "GETS it from… You see where Sam GETS it from. Please don't talk about my daughter in the past tense."

Epiphany walked out of the room feeling sorry for Alexis and her grief.

Alexis got up from the bed; she refused to spend another night in a hospital among people who viewed her as a grieving mother to a very much alive daughter.

**************************************

After the family left, Jason, with Robin and Patrick's help, managed to sneak Sam out of the hospital; they brought her to his penthouse. They took her to the guest bedroom.

Robin stayed the night with her to ensure that she fully woke up from the paralytic they had given her. She carried a fetal heart monitor that she had stolen from Kelly's office; she wanted to make sure that the drug they had given Sam did not adversely affect the baby.

--- "Mo—om?"

Robin brushed Sam's hair.

--- "No Sam, it's Robin. Your Mom's fine."

Tears ran down Sam's face.

--- "Are you sure? Please? These bastards tried to kill her again! God… What about Krissy and Mol?"

Robin nodded.

--- "They're fine."

Sam shook her head.

--- "What aren't you telling me?"

Robin smiled; she did not want to give Sam the bad news first, but it seemed as though the woman was quite intuitive.

--- "Well, the good news is that you're pregnant!"

Sam gasped in shock.

--- "Excuse me?"

Robin nodded.

--- "You're pregnant… about a month along."

Sam did not even know how to register the news. She was pregnant. Well that certainly explained a lot of things: her over-eating, her back pain, her boobs even hurt!

--- "Wow… I don't even know what else to say. … Wait, you said the good news; what's the bad news?"

She was getting nervous. Robin took Sam's hand in her own and looked her directly in the eyes.

--- "Well, Jason came up with a plan to help you and your family, but it involved having to do something that I'm pretty sure that you won't like—"

Sam sat up to listen to what Robin was about to tell her.

--- "Your family thinks that you're dead."

Sam quickly tried to get out of the bed, but Robin pushed her down.

--- "Are you KIDDING me Robin! My family thinks I'm dead!? What the f-ck kind of sick joke is this?! I can't do that to them!"

Jason came running in the room when he heard the commotion.

--- "SAM!"

Sam glared at him.

--- "You f-cking ASSHOLE! You have my family believing that I'm DEAD! WHAT the HELL! Oh my GOD!"

He sat down beside her.

--- "Look Sam, these people are trying to kill you! They're coming after your family, and they've already got Sonny. What do you think they'll do if they realize that they've failed AGAIN! This is the only way to hopefully have them feel a little cocky over their latest accomplishment."

She crossed her arms.

--- "And my Mom, my sisters, LUCKY? They're just supposed to mourn me?"

He sighed.

--- "We'll tell them after the funeral."

Sam's eyes bugged out.

--- "Whoa… whoa… FUNERAL?"

Robin nodded her head.

--- "Sam, you're dead. We have to make it seem real."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "And you expect me to lie in a coffin? What about the burial? Wait, no… My family cremates. Um, excuse me—"

Jason shook his head.

--- "Don't worry about that… we've got that handled."

**************************************

Molly was beyond herself with grief; the poor child did not know how to deal with her emotions. This was the first time that she had ever experienced the death of a loved one; she tried to cope the best way that she knew how, but every time she passed her sister's unoccupied room, the child burst into tears. She wanted her mother, but Alexis stayed in her room. She had placed a chair in front of the door; she did not allow anyone in to bother her. She refused to have anyone come in, looking sad and sympathetic, and offer words of encouragement; Alexis was not going to allow anyone to tell her any lies.

--- "Mommy! PLEASE! I need you!"

Molly cried at the door for fifteen minutes, but Alexis did not budge from her spot on the bed. She wanted to take her baby in her arms, but she could not bring herself to look at the child who looked so much like the sister everyone claimed was now dead. She put a pillow over her head to drown out her young daughters crying.

**************************************

Jason paid off the funeral director; he had the man give him the clothes that the family, presumably Nikolas and Kristina, picked out for Sam to wear. He paid off the hearse driver, and replaced him with one of Sonny's men. He needed this funeral to be believable.

After Sam was dressed, Robin came into the room at the funeral home with a syringe.

--- "What's that for?"

--- "We have to give this to you to simulate your death."

Sam nodded.

--- "Is that how you got everyone to believe that I was dead at the hospital?"

--- "Yea. I'm really sorry about that Sam. I know what it's like to think that someone you loved was dead, only to find out that they really weren't; your family is going to be angry at first, but you know what, they'll be happy and relieved."

Jason walked into the room.

--- "Her family can't know that she's alive Robin."

Sam turned to face him.

--- "I can't stay dead, Jason!"

He sighed.

--- "Look, your mother is the only person who can know; everyone else has to believe that you're actually gone."

She shook her head and paced.

--- "What about my sisters! My God, I can't have them mourning me! **Do you know how close we are? I can't do that to them! **They have to be told. And Lucky? He's the father of this baby!"

Jason rubbed his face out of exhaustion of having to deal with this; he knew that Sam would never comply with his idea.

--- "FINE. You can tell your FAMILY: Alexis, Kristina, Molly, Nikolas, and even Lucky. Outside of them, no one can know. **You can't be seen by anyone!**"

She smiled.

Robin walked over to her ready to give her the paralytic; Sam put her hand up to stop her.

--- "Will I be able to hear anything that's going on?"

Robin nodded her head.

--- "Sam, this isn't like when you were in the hospital; you were out of it because you were suffering from hypothermia, and then we gave you the drug. This time, you're fine… the paralytic shouldn't knock you completely out; it's merely going to paralyze your ability to move, and will slow your heart rate. Don't worry about the baby; it'll be fine. I'm not saying that you'll be able to hear every word, but spoken loudly enough, I'm certain that you'll be able to capture what's being said."

Sam smiled sadly thinking about the pain her family was going through, and the difficulty of the day ahead of them. She gave Robin her arm.

--- "Okay, I'm ready."

**************************************

Alexis dressed and walked out of her room and down to the foyer; it was the first time that she was leaving her room since she was told that Sam died. She felt an ache in the pit of her stomach. She did not know why she was even bothering to go to the funeral as she was still having a hard time believing that her daughter was gone. She figured that she would go simply to appease her family.

She entered the foyer to find her daughters sitting on the bench in the entryway. Molly was about to run to her, but she hesitated and sat back down; her mother had spoken to neither her nor Kristina in days. Alexis walked up to her girls.

--- "Hi."

Kristina's eyes were puffy from crying; she held on to her little sister's, whose eyes were equally puffy and red, hand.

--- "Hi."

She could not believe her mother was so calm, and had shown no sign of having any form sad emotion over Sam's death. Alexis reached in her purse for a pack of tissues.

--- "Here, um, you might need these."

Kristina took the tissues, pulled Molly up, and walked out of the foyer; her mother's denial was infuriating.

**************************************

Jason placed Sam into the coffin; with the help of his men, they carried the coffin into the awaiting hearse. Jason followed behind, to ensure that Sam was transported safely.

When they arrived at the church, the men carried the coffin in and set it up in the front; Nikolas had requested an open casket funeral so as to help Alexis come to terms with the fact that her daughter was in fact dead. The family arrived shortly thereafter.

**************************************

When Alexis walked into the church and saw her daughter lying in the coffin, she was incensed; she knew that she needed to speak. In particular, she needed to speak to her daughter; **she needed to release the anger within her. ** So she did until the emotions rose within her, and she released more tears than she thought was physically possible.

She could not believe that her daughter, her Sam, her Samantha, was lying in that coffin. Everything in her hurt when she finally allowed herself to accept the obvious truth in front of her face; her daughter was dead.

**After they took Sam's body from the church to be cremated, **Alexis sat for the remainder of the service in absolute silence; she was all cried out.

**************************************

Agent Raynor sat in the back of the church watching the service. His heart broke at the sounds of Alexis crying over her daughter's body. He wanted to run up to her and hold on to her and let her know how sorry he was.

**************************************

An additional coffin had been purchased from the funeral home and a body from Mercy Hospital's research lab, of the same type and build as Sam's was placed in there to be used for cremation. **The body was placed in the coffin and cremated. The ashes were removed and placed in the urn to be handed to the family.**

Sam was taken out of the coffin and transferred to an awaiting car.

**************************************

_He knew that those two boys were not his; they looked nothing like him, and certainly nothing like their mother. The bitch had those children with another man. He refused to have any bastard child of his wife's inherit a large amount of his money. So he took a substantial amount and moved it into another account. He then devised the account to the woman he loved for the remainder of her life. Afterwards, the estate would go to his true children._

**************************************

She opened the door to the crypt and stepped inside.

--- "Oh my God."

She gasped. The urn fell to the ground shattering to pieces. Standing before her was the most beautiful sight that she could have ever imagined.

--- "Samantha?"

Sam nodded as she ran into her mother's arms; her face was covered in tears.

--- "Mom."

* * *

**_Now, I want apologies from all you doubters and threateners! LMAO! Ye of little faith... [shaking my head]._**

_P.S. Carol, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, no? LOL. Besides, I doubt there'll be a third part to this story... I'm quite indecisive, so, you just never know. We'll see what pops up in the head, but I don't like messing with a good thing. Next story (if there is one) will probably have to be something totally different..._

_ghpifan, lol, you're sooooo lucky I have a heart of GOLD! lol. Now go update YOUR story and insert some more SamLexis in there just to make me happy! lol. Jerry needs to go down..._

_See how much reviewing helps? I actually listen to what you folks want! If only TIIC would follow suit. [God, did you SEE that BS of scenes between Sam and Alexis! UGH. That's what pushed me over the edge to get this chapter finished.]_


	19. Reunion

You're so lucky my cousin is recovering from last night right now… LMAO. Here's the new installment! It's short.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Reunion**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_She was standing in her hotel room when she received the phone call._

_--- "Hello? … A separate estate? That must be a joke. I inherited every single dime. … Really? Well, thank you for letting me know."_

_She hung up the phone; she was incensed._

_--- "That estate is supposed to be mine! I was given EVERYTHING!"_

_She grabbed the closest thing to her, a lamp, and threw it against the wall._

_--- "SON OF A BITCH!"_

* * *

Alexis thought that she had to have been dreaming; she could not have been holding Sam in her arms. This was impossible. She continued to hold Sam, who was wearing the same clothes that she had just seen her wearing in the coffin.

--- "Oh my God, this isn't real. This isn't real. But, I'm just going to hold you until I wake up from this dream."

Sam was feeling as emotional as her mother, except that she knew that this was not a dream; this was reality. She was grateful that her mother was alive, and that she was able to be in her arms.

--- "Mom, if this were a dream, and I were just a ghost, I'm really offended that I'm all exposed on the ground."

Alexis pulled away from her daughter to look at her; she was confused.

--- "What?"

Sam smiled; Alexis' heart melted at the sight. _'God, please don't let this be a dream.'_ Sam pointed to the broken urn and the ashes all over the ground.

Alexis let go of her daughter, and rushed to the ashes; she was in tears.

--- "What have I done?! Sam, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry."

Sam put her hands on her mother's shoulders.

--- "Hey, hey, hey, hey… Mom, I'm right here."

Alexis looked at her for a second before putting her face in her hands.

--- "I don't believe this. I saw you in the coffin, I watched them wheel you away to be cremated. I held your ashes; I dropped you… I'm sorry—"

She began to cry hysterically over the fallen ashes; she tried to scoop them up, but she had no place to put them.

--- "Sam, I'm so sorry! God! Where am I going to put you? I keep screwing up! I have this hole in my chest, and I don't know how to fill it! Your sisters need me, and I can't be there for them because I miss you so much!"

Sam did not know what she needed to do to convince her mother that she was real and not some sort of apparition. She bent down and grabbed her mother's ash filled hands.

--- "MOM! Feel me, I'm alive! I'm not dead—"

Sam held her mother's hands and gave them a squeeze. Alexis looked at her daughter again; this was too good to believe. As the realization hit her, she cried harder.

--- "I knew it! I told them that you weren't dead! I told them—"

She pulled Sam to her, not caring that she had somebody else's ashes all over her hands, and now on her daughter's hair and clothes; she covered Sam in kisses. She continued to cry, although not from sadness, but from relief.

--- "I said such awful things to you at the funeral—"

Sam heard every word that her mother had screamed at her; it was a miracle that tears did not roll down her drug-induced face as she lay in the coffin. Her mother's rage was astounding.

--- "Mom, I'm sorry—"

Alexis wiped her daughter's face.

--- "For what?"

--- "For everything! I heard what you said at the funeral—I caused you sooo much pain, and I'm sorry for that. I mean, I NEVER listen to you, and because of that you nearly got killed when you were coming to find me—"

--- "I would've come after you Sam regardless of anything—"

--- "You were so angry at me—"

Alexis pulled Sam to her again.

--- "I was angry. I was angry at… everything. I don't know. I think it was so much easier to be angry at you because I thought you were gone, than to be angry at myself because I couldn't swim, or because I completely shut your sisters out… OH MY GOD! We have to tell them!"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "We will, but we have a lot to talk about."

--- "God, I never thought that I'd ever be able to talk to you again. These two days have been the most difficult days I've ever lived in my life. I shut everyone out because I knew in my heart that you weren't gone. I KNEW it. I even threw a pillow across the hospital room and yelled at Epiphany—"

Sam laughed.

--- "Wait, you threw a pillow at Epiphany?"

--- "NO! I would never do that! Honey, I didn't have a death wish—"

The women laughed together.

--- "She wanted to comfort me because she knows what it's like to lose a child, poor woman… I couldn't let her try and tell me about how she understood what I was going through because she didn't; I didn't for one second believe that you were gone… until—"

Sam finished her mother's sentence.

--- "Until you saw me in the coffin."

Alexis' eyes filled with tears again.

--- "Honey, I locked myself in my room for two days and only came out to go to the bathroom; I don't even remember if I showered in that time, I was that upset. I knew that you weren't gone, but everyone kept telling me otherwise. Nikolas and Kristina went to the store and picked out an outfit for you to wear—"

Alexis looked at the clothes her daughter was wearing; she smiled sadly.

--- "I'm surprised at your sister; this isn't anything close to what you'd ever wear."

Sam smiled and nodded while looking down at what she was wearing: a grey and white dress.

--- "Yea, definitely not."

Alexis continued; she needed her daughter to understand that she had never given up on her.

--- "I sent Nikolas to the house to get the safe with our family pictures and the bracelets; I needed to see you. When he brought it to me, I just continued to sit in my room looking at the pictures and ignoring everyone who knocked on the door. God, poor Molly, I hope she forgives me! She came by my door so many times crying her eyes out and I wouldn't let her in! Kristina was her rock when I should've been."

--- "Mom, you were mourning!—"

Alexis got up and walked around the crypt; she stopped in front of her sister's ashes.

--- "That's not an excuse; we were all mourning. I left them crying, just now to come here; I wanted you to be with your aunt. I figured that if I couldn't have you with me, I wanted and Kristina to meet; I know you two would've gotten along. I miss her so much."

Alexis began to cry again at the memory of her sister.

--- "I lost her once, then I got her back, and then I lost her again—"

She looked at Sam and pulled her daughter to her, covering her with kisses.

--- "Like you… This is a miracle."

Sam shook her head as she cried with her mother.

--- "No, this is Jason."

* * *

_He had his children for the week. Although it was a very hectic week at work, he was grateful to have them; he missed them. _

_He pulled into the driveway, and walked up to the house. As he put the key into the door, everything went black._

* * *

Kristina and Molly left the living room and went up to their room; they were tired of dealing with everyone asking how they were feeling. Kristina slammed the door shut.

--- "How the hell do they think we're doing?! I mean, Sam's dead, and Mom won't even talk to us!"

Molly lied down on the bed; she felt more alone than she had ever felt before.

--- "She doesn't care about us anymore."

Kristina sat down next to her sister; this was the time for her to play the good big sister… like Sam always did.

--- "That's not true, Mol; she's just really sad—"

Molly's eyes filled with tears.

--- "I'm sad TOO!"

Kristina took a deep breath as she tried to hold in her own tears; she did not want Molly to see her crying.

--- "I know you are, but it's different for Mom, you know. I mean, she and Sam were really close. And Sam has been through so much stuff in her life, and for her to die because she was saving Mom from the water, it's hard to take. You know how God Sam was in the water. Mom must feel guilty."

Molly wiped her tears; she was confused.

--- "Why should she feel guilty?"

Kristina shrugged.

--- "I don't know, Mol. Maybe because she's afraid of the water, and Sam saved her, but died?"

Molly began to cry again.

--- "Sam would've saved Mommy even if she knew how to swim. That's just how she is… she was."

Kristina lied down next to her little sister, and wiped her fallen tears.

--- "Yea."

* * *

_She was lying in a hospital room. Everything hurt. Blinking. Swallowing. Breathing. She was hooked up to machines. How did she get here? She was talking to him… yelling at him really… and then everything went black. _

_She sensed him walking into the room, so she quickly shut her eyes; she knew that if he saw that she was alive, he might try to kill her again. He had betrayed her._

* * *

Alexis calmed down a bit as she looked at her very much alive daughter.

--- "What do you mean, 'this is Jason?'"

Sam sighed knowing that her mother was going to flip when she heard Jason's plan; she hoped that she would understand his reasoning behind it all.

--- "Jason had Patrick and Robin tell you that I had died—"

Alexis' facial expression changed from confusion to anger.

--- "What do you mean that he told Patrick and Robin to tell me that you died? Do you know what this family has been through?! My God, Samantha, your sisters are broken because of this! I was completely shattered by the thought that everyone was lying to me that I couldn't even comfort them in their grief! This WHOLE time Jason KNEW that you were alive?! Why the hell would he do this to us!?"

Alexis quickly got up from the ground and made her way to the door; Sam grabbed her by the arm.

--- "MOM! Wait! He didn't do this out of spite! He did it to save us, or at least to buy us some time."

Alexis tried to suppress the welling tears.

--- "Buy us time from what?!"

Sam took her mother's hands into her own.

--- "The same people who took Sonny, are the same ones after us!"

Alexis was shocked.

--- "Sonny's been gone for MONTHS!"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Exactly! These people have been plotting this for months! We don't know—"

Alexis pulled her hands out of Sam's as she began to pace the crypt.

--- "Samantha, Sonny's been gone for MONTHS—"

Sam knew her mother was trying to piece the puzzle together.

--- "I know—"

Her mother stopped pacing and seriously looked at her.

--- "No… Sam, he's been gone since right before Kristina ran off with Jeff... right before he raped her… right before he stabbed you… right before he kidnapped Molly… right before he stabbed me."

Sam was shocked; she had never thought that what had happened to them previously could have been remotely connected. In fact, neither she nor Jason had had the time to contemplate whether or not there was any form of connection since Kristina had called Sam right after they made the connection with Sonny's kidnapping; everything her mother was telling her fit together.

--- "Oh my God."

Alexis' brain was working a mile a minute.

--- "They've been planning this for months! They're the cause of EVERYTHING! Who the hell would be so sick as to have Jeff come after a 15 year old? … Okay, we need to get out of here. We need to move. We need to—"

Sam grabbed her mother who had made her way to the door.

--- "Mom! Jason's arranged all that for us."

Normally Alexis would have argued against that idea, but at this point, she really did not have much of a choice in the matter.

--- "Where are we going?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders; she honestly did not know.

--- "He didn't tell me; he doesn't want anyone to know, and he doesn't want there to be a chance that it slipped out. Mom, no one but you, the girls, Nik, and Lucky can know that I'm alive."

--- "Lucky? Does he know about all this? I mean, I like him and all, but—"

She took her mother's hand and put it on her stomach; there was no other way to explain why the man she loved, but was not sure she could be with needed to know that she was alive.

Alexis looked down at her hand on her daughter's stomach, and then looked back to her daughter.

--- "You're pregnant?"

Sam smiled and nodded.

--- "YES!"

Alexis was shocked.

--- "That certainly explains all the eating and your back pain—"

Sam finished her mother's sentence.

--- "and my boobs hurt, and the mood swings—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Well, honey, I don't know about your boobs hurting, but I certainly didn't see a difference in your attitude; you seemed like your normal ornery self."

Sam rolled her eyes. Alexis smiled.

--- "Who knew, but I missed seeing you do that."

The women laughed.

--- "Well, I'm having a baby, and you Mom, are going to be a grandma!"

Alexis' once shattered heart was mended, and grew in size to welcome the new addition that would soon be in their family. No words could be said to encompass the joy she felt; she just pulled her daughter to her and hugged her gently.

* * *

Happy Labor Day!

~Meliora.


	20. Climb

_This is COMPLETELY a filler chapter. I'm just waiting for my Mac and Cheese to cook in the oven… Hmmmm….. Everyone LOVES my M&C… there's cognac in it! LMAO. I'll never eat it because it's way too rich and way too fattening. I can't ruin the sexy… ;o) ENJOY!_

_Thanks again for the great reviews and compliments! Keep them coming and I'll keep writing this up for you!_

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Climb**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Alexis had never felt more blessed than at that moment; she was looking at her once presumed dead daughter, and that daughter was carrying her precious grandchild. They sat in the crypt in silence for a few moments; Alexis wanted to spend a few moments with her daughter alone before letting her other girls know their older sister was alive. She kissed Sam on the top of the head.

--- "Who knew my sorry excuse for a prayer would be answered?"

Sam never knew her mother to be a religious person; the only time any of them went to church was for a funeral or a wedding.

--- "Um, I didn't realize you knew how to pray, Mom. Did you have to like, give God the whole run-down of who you were? Hi, My name is Alexis Davis, aka Alexandra Davidovitch, aka Natasha Bergman Cassidine, I live at—"

Alexis smacked her daughter in the back of the head.

--- "Hey, be nice—"

Sam smiled back.

--- "Hey, right back at you! You're abusing a delicate flower here, and not to mention an undead… Who knows what kind of defects I might have. I'm telling you, Mom, I could be like some form of zombie that attacks you in the night—"

Alexis laughed at the thought.

--- "Honey, you're a Cassidine; if you attack anything at night, it'll have NOTHING to do with you being an 'undead,' as you call yourself."

Sam shook her head.

--- "I almost wish that I could've been a fly on the wall in casa de Cassidine—"

Alexis cut her off.

--- "You most certainly do not, Sam. There's a reason I broke ties with them; they're NOT sane people. I mean, Helena of all people is a key example of the problems with that lot. Now, while we're on the topic, certain things need to change, Samantha—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Oh God, she's calling me Samantha and I didn't even do anything… yet."

Alexis glared at her daughter.

--- "I'm serious. You're a, [ahem]'delicate flower.' I do not want you to do anything that'll jeopardize your life or the life of that baby inside of you."

Sam glared right back at her mother.

--- "EXCUSE ME?! Mom, I would NEVER do anything that would cause me to lose this baby!"

Alexis paced her hand on Sam's cheek to calm her down; she did not mean to upset her.

--- "Honey, I'm not saying that you would intentionally. What I'm saying is that I don't want you to play everyday hero anymore. Let someone else do the job—"

Sam was shocked.

--- "I do NOT play everyday hero!"

Her mother rolled her eyes.

--- "I seriously cannot believe that you just said that, Samantha."

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis, Sam and Lucky, Kristina, and Molly were enjoying the day at the local fair. The kids, who were eight and three, at the time were sticky from cotton candy and caramel apples, insisted on being taken on every single ride possible. _

_After the fifteenth ride, however, Molly had thrown up on her mother, and the sight of blue vomit disgusted Kristina. _

_--- "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLL! Mommy you look like Blue from Blue's Clues!"_

_Sam laughed uncontrollably while she picked Molly up to change her out of her vomit filled clothes._

_--- "Yea, and she smells like a wet dog too—"_

_Alexis rolled her eyes._

_--- "Thank you VERY much. I need a change of clothes."_

_Kristina pointed to a t-shirt salesman a few feet away from them._

_--- "OOOOOH! Can I get a new shirt too? Look! He's selling one."_

_--- "Fine. Sam we'll be right back."_

_Molly looked around the area; there were a lot of people walking back and forth. Lucky was standing beside her sister holding her change of clothes. As Sam moved to lift the little girls soiled shirt, Molly pushed her hands down to stop Sam from removing the shirt._

_--- "Baby, your shirt's dirty—"_

_Molly shook her head._

_--- "Sammy, I want pie-vacy."_

_Sam looked at Lucky who had begun to laugh._

_--- "Sam, your sister doesn't appreciate the mixed company."_

_Sam laughed and looked back at Molly who had her arms crossed._

_--- "Ah, gotcha. Sorry clone! We'll go to the bathroom."_

_Alexis and Kristina walked back over with four shirts in hand. _

_--- "What's with all the shirts?"_

_Alexis looked at Lucky before answering her eldest daughter._

_--- "Sorry, we couldn't find one for you, Lucky. We'll be back."_

_She grabbed Sam and Molly and pulled them toward a bathroom. Once inside, Alexis handed each daughter a t-shirt._

_--- "Put these on."_

_She quickly changed Molly into her t-shirt, and a pair of clean shorts, while Kristina changed into her own new shirt. Sam saw the shirt her mother had purchased for her; she was having no part in this family-bonding joke._

_--- "Mom, I'm not wearing this."_

_Alexis pulled her own shirt on before walking over to her eldest daughter with the soiled shirt in hand. She wiped the shirt on Sam._

_--- "I guess you are now!"_

_Sam glared at her mother._

_--- "I CANNOT believe you just did that! MOM! That was seriously beyond immature."_

_Alexis and the girls laughed as Sam changed out of her filthy shirt and into the purchased one._

_--- "I'm sorry honey, but if you would ever listen to me, I wouldn't have to resort to dirty tactics."_

_Sam rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom._

_Lucky sat on a bench staring at the family as they walked toward him. Sam approached him first, but her arms were crossed so he could not see what her t-shirt said; he noticed a scowl on her face, so he knew that she was not pleased with her mother's purchase. Kristina ran toward him; her shirt said 'Bashful.'_

_--- "Oh, so you're the bashful dwarf?"_

_She nodded her head and sweetly smiled; she turned around and showed him the image on the back of her shirt._

_Alexis walked up to them holding Molly in her arms; Molly's body covered her mother's shirt. Lucky smiled._

_--- "What does your shirt say, Mol?"_

_Molly wiggled out of her mother's arms and pointed to it. Lucky laughed._

_--- "Dopey?"_

_Alexis used Kristina to shield her shirt from view until Lucky could see his girlfriend's t-shirt._

_--- "Dopey was the youngest dwarf; he, or rather she, was the sweetest.—Samantha, show Lucky your t-shirt."_

_Sam scowled in her mother's direction without uncovering it; Lucky shook his head._

_--- "Let me guess… Grumpy."_

_Alexis snapped her fingers._

_--- "You got it!"_

_Sam rolled her eyes, and gave Lucky a soft tap on the cheek before kissing him._

_--- "She makes me sick—look at her shirt."_

_Lucky turned to see Alexis standing with the image on her shirt visible. _

_--- "Snow White?"_

_Alexis walked over and gave Sam a kiss on the cheek while Kristina and Molly hugged their sister._

_--- "Of course! They're my dwarfs."_

_Just then Jason walked by with Elizabeth and the boys. Lucky greeted his boys as Sam and Jason awkwardly looked at each other._

_--- "Nice shirt."_

_Before Sam could respond, Spinelli ran over to Jason._

_--- "Stone Cold, it is with grave heart that the Jackal must inform you that there is an explosive instrument on the high wheel of death. It appears to be a message from Anthony Zacharra."_

_Alexis had always had a hard time understanding Spinelli speak, but Sam and Jason seemed fluent in his language. Before anyone could react or question Spinelli any further, Sam and Jason were running toward the ride. Alexis and Lucky grabbed Spinelli._

_--- "What the hell is going on? And in ENGLISH!"_

_Spinelli swallowed hard as he looked at the Goddess Mother._

_--- "There is a bomb on the Ferris Wheel."_

_Alexis let go of Spinelli, she was about to run toward the Ferris Wheel, when she remembered her two youngest children beside her. She couldn't leave them. She called after Sam._

_--- "Samantha! Get back here!"_

_Sam and Jason were too far ahead to hear her mother's screams for her to return. Lucky, however, ran after them._

_Each car of the Ferris Wheel, except the one at the very top, was occupied; the bomb was undoubtedly in there. The Wheel was stopped; the control board was smashed in. Sam looked at Jason._

_--- "We've got to climb it. Do you think you'll be able to stop it before it goes off?"_

_--- "I won't have much of a choice. I don't even know how much time is left on it. These people need to get off the ride."_

_Sam looked around. There was an approaching firetruck, but no bomb squad in sight._

_--- "Jason, they don't know about the bomb…"_

_Jason automatically ran up to the ride and began climbing it. As Sam was about to follow suit, Lucky grabbed her by the arm._

_--- "What are you doing?!"_

_Sam pulled her arm back._

_--- "I'm going to help these people!"_

_--- "And what if the bomb goes off? You're going to let your mother and sisters watch you die?"_

_Sam shook her head._

_--- "I can't let these people die, Lucky! The firemen are here to help get them off, but what if they don't do it before we can get the bomb off and deactivated! There'll be a whole lot more to worry about than my life. Lucky I have to go! Tell my Mom to get the girls out of here!"_

_Sam left him stunned as she quickly began to climb up. Lucky called in for the bomb squad._

_Sam and Jason quickly made their way up the intricate wheel, and into the top car; the bomb read one minute._

_--- "SH!T!" _

_Sam and Jason looked at each other._

_--- "What do you want to do?"_

_--- "We've got to diffuse it! By the time we get off this thing, it will have exploded"_

_He examined the bomb, and tried to figure out which wire belonged where._

_Sam looked at the timer: 10… 9…. 8… 7….6…9…8…7…6…5…4….4…4…4….4…"_

_She shook her head._

_--- "Jason."_

_---"Damn it! This is the most intricate bomb I've seen—"_

_--- "Jason."_

_--- "Ok, I think this wire here—"_

_3….2…..2….2….2…1…._

_Sam looked at the bomb and breathed a sigh of relief._

_--- "Jason."_

_He looked at her; she was pointing to the timer; it now read, 'Gotcha!'"_

_As he took a deep breath, an explosion shook the area; being on the top of the Wheel, they noticed that one of Sonny's warehouses had exploded._

_--- "Great, it was trick! Sam, I've gotta go!"_

_--- "Go ahead! I'm fine."_

_He got out of the car and began climbing down; the Wheel was being evacuated and the nearby explosion astounded the people at the fair. He quickly got down and ran out of the fair toward the docks. _

_As Sam took the last step off of the Wheel, she noticed her mother glaring at her; she mis-stepped and felt a crack._

_--- "DAMN IT!"_

_Alexis ran over to her daughter, followed by Lucky._

_--- "What the hell Samantha! Why the hell would you go climbing this damned thing!"_

_Sam cried in pain as Lucky lifted her and walked them to the car; she needed to go to General Hospital._

_--- "Mom, save the lecture! I'm pretty sure I just broke my ankle!"_

_Alexis was relieved._

_--- "If that's what it takes to keep you from pulling a stunt like that, I'll keep a hammer and a block of wood handy at all times!"_

_Sam rolled her eyes through her tears._

_--- "Great image, Mom."_

_**End of Flashback.**_

Sam laughed at the memory.

--- "Don't worry, Mom, I won't be climbing any Ferris Wheels any time soon."

Alexis gave her daughter a hug before pulling her towards the door; they had two girls to speak to.

--- "You'd better not! I wasn't kidding about the hammer and wood. I saw _Misery_, I know how Kathy Bates did it."

As she opened the crypt door, two sets of eyes met theirs.

* * *

**BOY OR GIRL???? AND ANY BABY NAME SUGGESTIONS????**

**~Mel**

**I'll write the next chapter sometime tomorrow night or Tuesday... Let's say Tuesday night or Wednesday for Ch 21...**

_Carol, you're a sweetheart... Thanks for the compliment! You're giving me a big head! ;o)_


	21. Tunnels

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Labor Day? I went to the Labor Day Parade/ Carnival in Brooklyn, danced up a storm, ate some YUMMY food, got annoyed with the idiots in the subway (it was ridiculously packed, of course) and then I went to the Village last night and got a new tattoo (my third)! Thank you Lulu for updating your chapter as I read it while being tortured by that needle and my friend who kept taking pics of me making crazy faces; it helped ease the pain.

This is unedited (and written in class, lol. Seriously boring classes today. Thank God for Power Point)… I'll go over it later tonight after I finish up my reading for class; I might add more to it because I think there might be more to be told in the chapter. We'll see whether or not the muse will strike.

~Meliora.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Tunnels**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_She rolled out of bed after a night of love-making with her lover; he reached for her arm._

_--- "Where are you going?"_

_She pulled her arm away from him._

_--- "Your wife will be home soon; and my husband will wonder where I am if he comes back to an empty house."_

_He got up from the bed and walked up to her; he wrapped his arms around her, passing his hand over her swollen belly._

_--- "But you leaving means that my baby goes with you."_

_She turned around, pressing her body into his; he was getting aroused once more._

_--- "I would give anything to allow you to raise your sons, but you know why I can't."_

_He passionately kissed her._

_--- "I know… their inheritance."_

**************************************

Alexis opened the crypt door to meet two sets of shocked eyes; they belonged to her two younger daughters.

--- "What the f-ck?"

As Kristina was about to run from the crypt, Alexis grabbed her arm.

--- "Sweetie, it's okay—"

Molly was just as visibly shocked as Kristina, but she ran into Sam's arms, hoping that she was not seeing things.

--- "Sammy?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Baby, it's me—"

Kristina was angry.

--- "You're alive? I can't believe this! You've been alive this whole time but you allowed us to mourn for you?! I mean, we saw you in the casket!"

She began to cry; she did not know whether to be happy that her older sister was alive, or if she should remain angry. Sam let go of Molly to comfort Kristina. Kristina fought her sister at first from holding her, but quickly gave in and allowed Sam to embrace her.

--- "I missed you so much Sam! I could never be a good sister like you."

Sam rubbed Kristina's back, while Alexis held on to Molly.

--- "Shh… You're a great sister Krissy! What are you talking about? You've been a great sister to Molly. Right baby?"

Molly wiped the tears from her face as she nodded her head.

--- "Even though you're mean sometimes, you're still nice to me when I'm sad, Krissy."

Sam smiled at her little sister's honesty. Alexis walked over and brushed the tears from Kristina's cheeks.

--- "Sweetie, I know that this is tough… for both of you—"

Kristina glared at her mother; she was still upset with her for the way she acted for the past few days.

--- "Did you know, Mom!? Did you know that she was alive? Is that why you treated us like crap—"

Sam put her hand up to interrupt Kristina, but Alexis stopped her.

--- "Sam, it's okay. I know that I was not there for your girls the way that I should've been; but no, I didn't know that Sam was alive. The reason I completely ignored you, and I'm so sorry for that, was because I couldn't handle the idea that your sister was dead. I mean, I never believed that she was gone, and I couldn't bring myself to try to comfort you girls for something that I didn't believe had happened. Krissy, Molly, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have ever cut you out of my life for the passed two days; it was selfish—"

Molly wrapped her arms around her mother's waist; she missed her mother.

--- "I didn't think you loved us anymore—"

Alexis bent down to look her youngest daughter directly in the eyes; she pulled Kristina to her as well.

--- "I could NEVER stop loving you girls; do you understand that? It was because I love you three so much that my grief took over my ability to take care of you the way that I should have. I know that it's not much of an excuse, but I don't know what else I can say—"

Sam continued for her mother and explained the situation to her sisters.

--- "Look, I know that this is going to be difficult to understand, perhaps just for your Mol, but the fact that I'm alive is crazy to both of you, especially since you saw me in the coffin; all of that was a ploy or a trick that needed to be played on the people who are after us. You two have to listen to me very carefully, okay?"

Molly nodded her head; Kristina looked at her sister intently.

--- "NOBODY but Nikolas, Lucky, and we four can know that I'm alive; the people who tried to hurt Mommy and me need to think that I'm still dead because we don't want them to try and come after us again."

Kristina let out an exasperated sigh.

--- "But aren't these people going to try and come after us anyway? Especially if they already think that they killed you? What difference does it make?"

Alexis spoke up when she noticed the look of fear on Molly's face; they had never spoken to candidly in front of the eight year old.

--- "Baby, don't worry; we'll protect you. These people have been after us for a long time—"

Molly began to cry.

--- "What if they come after me? What if they kill me? Will I be able to come back to life like Sammy?"

Sam lifted her sister to her.

--- "Listen to me, clone; I promise you that Mom and I will protect you—"

Kristina shook her head and walked away from her family.

--- "How are you going to promise that you'll protect us when you nearly died, SAM!? Ok, fine, you survived, but they said that you were in really bad shape, and it's only because you're lucky that you didn't die! You can't promise us anything."

Molly's lips began to quiver as her sister's disbelief rang true. She cried into Sam's shoulder.

--- "I don't want to die!"

Alexis walked over to Kristina.

--- "Sweetie, can you please do us the favor of not making comments like that in front of your little sister? I know you're scared, but try your best to curb what you say around her. This is hard for everyone."

Kristina nodded her head and began to cry; like Molly, she was afraid that she would die. More importantly, she was afraid that her worst fear might once again come true: that she would lose her sister, again, or worse, that her mother would be killed.

Alexis pulled her daughter to her, while Sam held onto her youngest sister; the women sadly looked at each other; they would tell the girls about the addition to their family soon enough.

**************************************

_When he came to, he was tied to his dining room chair; his children were standing in front of him with guns pointed to their heads. A man approached him smiling._

_--- "Now, it's about time you finally woke up! It really is rude to sleep when you have guests!"_

_His mouth was ungagged. _

_--- "What do you want? Please don't hurt my sons, I'll do whatever it is you want, but I'm begging you not to hurt them."_

_The man smiled at him._

_--- "Now, that's what I love to hear!"_

**************************************

The family walked through the crypt's tunnel back to the castle. Sam continued to carry Molly, but she was just as freaked out by the tunnel as the eight year old.

--- "Mom, can you carry me?"

Alexis, whose hand was being grasped by Kristina smiled at her eldest daughter.

--- "Sam, it's not that bad."

Kristina looked around the dark tunnel.

--- "Mommy, I'm pretty sure I saw a bone on the ground—"

Alexis heard Molly whimper; she gave Kristina's hand a tight squeeze.

--- "Ow."

--- "Mol, baby, she's joking. I know it's dark in here, but we can't risk the chance of anyone on the grounds seeing Sam."

When they finally reached the entrance of the castle to the living room, Sam put Molly down. Alexis bent down to talk to her girls.

--- "Look, this is really important. Remember, only Lucky and Nik can know that Sam's alive. So, when we go inside, you have to still look sad, okay? The servants in the house can't even now that Sammy's still alive—"

Kristina nodded her head in agreement.

--- "How long are we going to have to live like this?"

Alexis looked to Sam.

--- "Just for a couple of hours—"

Alexis let out a sigh of relief.

--- "So, we're not going to be able to stay here. We're going to have to pack our bags quickly—"

Molly looked at her mother.

--- "We're leaving?"

Alexis picked her small daughter up; for being eight, she was the height of a five year old.

--- "Yes baby. We're going to move someplace safer."

Kristina interrupted.

--- "Where are we going?"

Sam and Alexis looked at each other; Sam spoke up.

--- "I don't know. When we get there, we'll know."

Alexis passed her hand on Sam's cheek, and gave her a kiss.

--- "Be careful here honey. You know the castle well, so just meet us in my room. Okay?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "Fine."

--- "I love you."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

Kristina hugged her sister.

--- "Please be careful, Sammy. I love you."

--- "I love you too, Krissy, and you Mol."

Molly was resting her head on her mother's shoulder. She looked at Sam and smiled.

--- "I love you Sammy."

While Sam continued on in the tunnel toward her mother's bedroom, Alexis and the girls went into the house. Agent Raynor was sitting in the living room with Nikolas, Lucky, and the other guests, including Jason.

--- "I'm sorry everyone. I needed to be alone—"

Agent Raynor stood up to greet Alexis; he had yet to speak to her since Sam's 'death.'

--- "Alexis, Kristina, Molly, I'm deeply sorry for your loss."

Alexis nodded; it took everything in her to not smile and shout from the rooftops that her daughter was alive. Instead, Alexis thought about the day that her sister died, and the pain that she still felt whenever she remembered her; her eyes welled with tears. Molly simply pressed her face into her mother's neck. Kristina decided to leave before she gave away her sister's lie; she headed toward the east wing.

--- "Thank you."

Diane walked up to Alexis and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

--- "Lex, the little gnome—um, Sam, loved you deeply. If she could've gone back and changed jumping into the water to save your life, to spare her own, she wouldn't have; that girl would have jumped in the water regardless of anything."

Alexis smiled at her best friend; she wanted desperately to tell her that Sam was alive, but she knew that the less people who knew, the better. She looked at Jason quickly; he shook his head.

--- "Thanks Diane."

Alexis wanted to excuse herself from the room. She felt bad that everyone was genuinely sorry for a loss that did not exist; poor Maxie was beyond herself with grief. Spinelli walked over with her, holding her hand.

--- "Mother of the Deceased Goddess, Maxinista and the Jackal are terribly stricken with grief over the crossing to the light of the Fair Samantha. We're certain that she is using her extensive Private Investigatorial skills to solve the crimes at the pearly gates."

Alexis smiled at Spinelli; he clearly was not in on the secret. She might not have been fluent in his jargon, but she certainly understood what he had just said.

--- "Crimes in heaven?"

He smiled back at Alexis.

--- "Certainly… angels singing off key in the choir; stowaways—"

--- "Stowaways?"

--- "YES! Clearly there are people who might attempt to interlope through the gates; the Jackal is sure that security at the gates might now be tight as only the most Holy St. Peter is guarding it. The Jackal does not mean—"

Maxie squeezed his hand.

--- "Spinelli, please."

Alexis gave Spinelli and Maxie kisses on the cheek.

---"Um, I don't mean to be rude or abrupt, but I need to speak with Nikolas and Lucky alone for a few minutes. Please excuse us."

Nikolas looked at his aunt questioningly, but nodded his head; he and Lucky followed Alexis and Molly out of the room, towards her bedroom.

--- "Alexis, what's this about?"

Alexis shook her head without stopping.

--- "Not now; please Nik, just follow me."

The four of them walked in silence the distance to the east wing.

**************************************

_The woman he loved was dead. Her child was without a mother and basically without a father. He couldn't claim her as his own. So, he changed her name after the other woman he loved and the person he always wanted to be. _

**************************************

Sam walked out of the tunnels and slipped into her room before going to her mother's room. She looked around and noticed that her favorite sweater was on the bed, along with her perfume. Kristina's pajamas were flung over the chair and Molly's teddy bear was on the bed; it was obvious her sisters were sleeping in her room. She picked up the teddy bear; it was sloppily patched up.

--- "What happened to you Mr. Plumber?"

--- "Molly was upset; she thought that he was supposed to save you, but he failed. She tore him apart. I tried to fix it, but I'm clearly not that great at patching things up."

Sam turned around to see Kristina; she went to hug her sister.

--- "You did a great job, Krissy. I'm sorry that you guys had to go through all of that. The minute I woke up and they told me what was going on, I wanted to come to you right away; Jason helped me realize that this way was better—"

There was a gasp at the door.

--- "Sam?"

Sam looked up and saw Lucky and Nikolas staring at her in disbelief. She ran into Lucky's arms.

--- "I'm here!"

Alexis cleared her throat; she was still carrying Molly, who still clung to her mother like a baby koala. The three days she spent deprived of her mother's love took a toll on her.

--- "I think we need to all step inside the room; I know it's a happy reunion, but no one can know Sam's here."

Everyone squeezed into the tiny room. Sam explained everything that had happened, and the reason for it all. Lucky and Nikolas were shocked. Lucky was not happy.

--- "You're telling me that Jason arranged for all of this?"

Sam shook her head; she knew that he was not going to get passed the Jason aspect.

--- "He didn't arrange for Mom and I to get put in that situation, Lucky. But he definitely helped let these people know that I was dead—"

--- "Yea, at the expense of your family's grief."

Nikolas, who had been silent and in awe of the fact that his cousin was alive, joined the conversation.

--- "I'm sorry, Sam, but I have to agree with Lucky. This house was completely shattered because of your death! Jason should have—"

Sam was getting annoyed with both Lucky and Nikolas.

--- "What would you have expected him to do? Tell everyone I was fine, and then expected an Oscar performance at the funeral? These people are after us! Come on, Nikolas, you guys wouldn't have been able to pull grief off if you had known I was alive! Who knows what these people will do if they know I didn't kick the bucket—"

Alexis stopped the killing portion of the conversation because Molly was still in the room.

--- "Okay, I think that there's something else that we need to discuss—"

Alexis looked at Sam and nodded her head; Sam smiled.

--- "Well, I have some news and given the circumstances, I really need you to be very quiet about how you take it—"

Kristina sat up in her chair, bracing herself for whatever news Sam was about to break to them.

--- "What is it?"

Sam smiled and took Lucky's hand in hers.

--- "Looks like I'm going to have a baby."

Lucky jumped from the bed and pulled Sam to him.

--- "You're pregnant?! Oh my God—"

He gave her a passionate kiss.

--- "I love you so much!"

Sam smiled at him.

--- "I love you too."

Alexis sat on the bed with Molly smiling at the scene; while her heart was happy, she was sad because the reality of the situation was that their lives were still so uncertain.

Jason walked into the room.

--- "I don't mean to cut this reunion short—"

Alexis was up in a flash; she smacked Jason hard across the face. Sam pulled her mother away.

--- "Mom, what the hell was that!?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "I'm sorry; I know he did what he had to do for us, but I'm still angry that I needlessly spent those days mourning you and neglecting your sisters.

Jason spoke up.

--- "Look, I know everyone is upset, and I'm sorry about that, but it needed to be done. Now, I'm not going to argue with anyone; we don't have much time, and we need to go."

Lucky was not happy that Jason was playing hero to his pregnant girlfriend and her family.

--- "Where are you taking them?"

Jason blankly stared at the man who was not only raising his son, but also dating the woman he loved.

--- "I can't tell you that."


	22. Hell

_Here you go…_

_Don't expect a new chapter tomorrow; It's a very somber day… I'll be at happy hour trying to get happy._

_~Mel_

_Unedited…_

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Hell**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Nikolas gave his aunt and cousins kisses goodbye.

--- "I'm going to miss you all. I'm sure that you'll be home soon."

Alexis patted her nephew on the cheek and gave him a hug.

--- "Honey, we're going to miss you too. Take care of Spencer and yourself. Be careful."

Sam walked over and gave her cousin a hug. He hugged her back.

--- "I'm so glad that you're alive—that sounds so weird."

They both laughed.

--- "Well, this family is anything but normal, so I guess it's normal for us…"

They gave their final hugs and goodbyes.

--- "Bye, we love you!"

Nikolas hated to have to say bye; Alexis, his cousins, and Spencer, aside from Lucky and Lulu, were his only family. He hoped that they would all be fine.

**************************************

_She needed to get to Port Charles before it was too late. She got on her private jet and headed there. As the plane landed, a pain struck her in the chest._

**************************************

Jason helped Sam, Alexis and the girls sneak out of the castle unnoticed. Once outside, the family got into his SUV. Lucky went to the passenger side window where Sam was seated.

--- "Take care of yourself, Sam; please don't do anything that'll put the baby's life in danger."

She rolled her eyes; this was the second time that she had warned about her behavior.

--- "Ok, I don't need you to also warn me, Lucky! My mother already let me know that I was on a tight leash."

He kissed her on the lips.

--- "Good, I'm glad."

He walked around to face Jason.

--- "You better take care of them."

--- "I will."

--- "I want some form of communication with Sam. I need to know how my baby is doing."

Jason crossed his arms.

--- "Fine."

Lucky began to walk away, but then turned around quickly and sucker punched Jason in the mouth.

--- "That's for the nonsense you put that family through and for risking my baby's life with whatever drug you had the doctors give Sam."

Jason thought about punching Lucky back, but figured that he would be wasting both time and energy.

--- "That's the only free punch you're going to get. I get that you're all upset, but if you can't understand that this is going to help save Sam, your baby, and her family then maybe you might want to start coming up with a better idea."

Lucky knew that what Jason said was right, but he did not like the fact that he was once again the savior.

--- "Whatever."

He walked away.

--- "That's what I thought."

Jason got into the car and began the long drive to the Davis family's new home.

**************************************

_He walked out of the house and made his way to his lover's home, his new home. Now that her husband was dead, he could raise his children; his teenaged boys. _

_When he arrived at the house, he expected a warm greeting. Instead, he was greeted with ice. They did not want him or anything to do with him._

**************************************

While Lucky went to say goodbye to Sam and the family, Nikolas walked back to the living room to the guests.

--- "I'm sorry everyone, but Alexis and her girls thank you for coming; right now, they just want to be alone. They ask that you respect their mourning."

Nikolas stood at the exit and shook everyone's hands as they left. Agent Raynor straggled behind.

--- "Agent Raynor, I'm sorry, but may I help you?"

--- "Alexis and her daughters are in danger."

Nikolas sat down to listen to what the detective had to say.

--- "They're in danger?"

Agent Raynor had a feeling that Nikolas already knew what he had to say.

--- "You don't seem surprised."

Nikolas made a drink, and handed it to Raynor.

--- "What do you know?"

--- "Thank you. Well, the FBI has been looking into the occurrences since Kristina was taken by Jeff, all the way up until this recent attack."

Nikolas took a big gulp of his drink.

--- "Ok… What is the FBI doing about it? I mean, you were on this island when Sam was killed. The launch driver was killed shortly after you were on it."

--- "He had a heart attack—"

Nikolas put his glass on the table.

--- "Ok, fine… again, I ask, what has the FBI been going to protect my family? In one night, Sam's apartment exploded, and her mother and sisters were run off the road; then he car exploded, and the house caught fire; then we have this "accident" and now my cousin is dead. The FBI seems to be doing absolutely nothing to protect them."

--- "Look, I'm sorry about Sam; she wasn't supposed to die. I like your aunt, very much; I never wanted anything to happen to your cousin. We did what we could to protect your family, and I certainly tried to keep myself close to them, but obviously that didn't work. Whoever is after them is doing a great job staying inconspicuous."

Nikolas took a last gulp of his drink.

--- "Yes they are."

**************************************

By the time they arrived at the house, Sam, Kristina and Molly had all fallen asleep. Alexis looked around and knew her girls would have something horrible to say.

--- "Jason, what the hell is this?"

Jason let out a deep sigh.

--- "This is your new home."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "This is a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. What the hell are we supposed to do for food? Where are the stores? Where the hell are the people, Jason?! All I saw for the passed 30 minutes were cows!"

Alexis' agitation woke Sam.

--- "What's going on?"

She looked around and took in the scene around her.

--- "What the hell is this? Is this some kind of joke?"

Jason was growing impatient with the family.

--- "Ok, this is your new home—"

Sam sat up straight and got a good look at the area. The house was on a farm… an abandoned farm. The house looked old and relatively abandoned as the windows were boarded up, and there were visible spider webs on the porch.

--- "Um, you want to explain to me how you expect us to eat? I don't think that the bats and ghosts that have been living here actually have stocked the fridge. I know that growing up on the streets, I ate just about anything, but like Mom say, I'm a bit spoiled now, soooo I'm not too keen on living on high grass—"

Alexis agreed.

--- "Sam's right. How do you expect us to survive here? If these people don't kill us, starvation certainly will."

Jason got out of the car and opened the doors for the family to get out. Alexis woke Kristina; the teen looked around and responded the same way her mother and sister responded.

--- "What the hell is this place?!"

Jason did not respond; he just unlocked and walked into the house. Alexis lifted Molly out of the car; she did not want her youngest child walking around, just in case there were nails sticking up from the floorboards.

--- "Sam, Krissy, please be careful as you walk; this place looks like a deathtrap."

Sam pulled the door shut and locked herself in the car before Alexis could open it up.

--- "Sam, open the door."

Alexis tried to open the back door, but Sam locked them all.

--- "Mom, I'm not staying here. The crypt was better than this."

Alexis pounded on the window.

--- "You're acting like a baby! Get out of the car!"

Kristina leaned against the car.

--- "I don't blame her; if you hadn't gotten me out of the car, I would definitely be sitting tight in there with her."

Alexis glared at her daughter.

--- "Shut it, Kristina."

Kristina rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Real mature, Mom."

Alexis rubbed the bridge of her nose.

--- "Samantha, if you don't open the door, so help me, you'll be in that coffin for real. I don't want to stay here either, but seriously, this is ridiculous."

Molly, who had been knocked out as a log, woke up. She looked around the area; she was not pleased.

--- "Are we in hell? Did we die and go to hell!?"

Alexis stared at her eight year old.

--- "Okay, seriously, you need to stop listening to your sisters—"

Molly put her head on her mother's shoulder.

--- "Are we going to be living here?"

Sam called out the window to her little sister's question.

--- "HELL NO! You three can stay here, but I'm not."

Alexis looked in Sam's direction.

--- "Um, how in the world were you able to hear Molly? She wasn't screaming."

Alexis noticed the backseat window, where Kristina had been seated, behind the driver's seat, was opened. She put Molly down. She pointed to the side of the door.

--- "Kristina, unlock the door!"

Kristina was more than happy to oblige; if she had to suffer, so did Sam. She ran to the car, and unlocked the door, then as Sam tried to fight with her, she hit the automatic lock on the driver's side. Once the door unlocked, Alexis opened Sam's door. She pulled her daughter out.

--- "You're seriously the most immature person I know."

Sam rolled her eyes and accepted defeat.

--- "Whatever."

**************************************

_He walked into her hospital room and pulled a chair up to the bed._

_--- "Oh, I really didn't want to put you here, but you left me no choice. If you hadn't betrayed me, you wouldn't be lying there. All you've done was lie to me; I can't tolerate that. If I didn't need you alive, I certainly would have killed you already."_

_She lied in the bed struggling to not move; she had never been so terrified in her life. _

_His phone began to ring; he answered it and listened to the person on the other line._

_--- "Where is she now? … She's in the hospital? … Why? … DAMN IT! She had a heart attack?! She can't die! Do you understand that? She CANNOT DIE!"_

**************************************

Alexis dragged Sam and Kristina, while holding Molly kicking and screaming into the house.

--- "I swear, I feel like I'm dealing with infants! What's the matter with this picture? I've got a 16 and PREGNANT 29 year old, acting more immature than the eight year old."

Kristina scoffed.

--- "Hey, you're the one carrying the eight year old—"

--- "HEY!"

As Molly went to smack her sister in the head, Alexis grabbed her hand.

--- "Yea, no. Can you two relax? Molly's my baby; I'm going to hold her as long as she let's me. The same goes for either of you two brats—"

Sam put her hand up.

--- "Excuse me, but when I asked you to pick me up, you most certainly turned me down!"

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "I'm not picking you up, Sam."

--- "See, you lie."

They stepped into the house, and were amazed to see that it looked nothing like the dilapidated shack it presented itself as from the outside. While it was no mansion, the house was very well fixed and lit (the windows were boarded up, so light was necessary). It was a simple, but livable space. Sam looked around the place.

--- "Ok, this isn't too bad; I can tolerate this."

Alexis shook her head and put Molly down.

--- "Yea, I think we'll be fine."

Jason walked into the living room area.

--- "Nice of you four to make it inside."

Kristina pointed at Sam.

--- "Blame the Queen of the Zombies over there."

Sam wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and gave her a kiss on the head.

--- "Well, you're pretty damned happy that this Queen is alive, aren't you."

Kristina's eyes welled with tears.

--- "You have no idea. I keep thinking that I'm having a dream—"

Sam hugged her sister tighter.

--- "Believe me, it's not a dream."

Jason was not one for sentiments and emotion, but he did feel bad for what he had put the family through.

--- "Um, ok… there are two bedrooms here, and one bathroom."

Alexis smacked herself in the forehead.

--- "You've got to be kidding me."

Jason looked at her.

--- "What's the problem? You're hiding for your lives; you're not on a vacation to Paris."

Molly looked at Jason.

--- "They're going to kill each other."

Jason smiled at her candor.

--- "Well, they're going to just have to get used to it because it's not a big bathroom—"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Where the hell did you find this place?"

--- "It's one of our many hideouts—"

--- "No one knows about it?"

--- "I wouldn't have brought you here if they did, Sam."

Sam smiled at him.

--- "Smart ass."

He smirked at her.

--- "Well, you should be fine for food for a while. There's a cellar in the basement stocked up with everything you'll need—"

Alexis spoke up.

--- "What about Sam? She's pregnant; she needs to see a doctor."

--- "There's a car in the barn; there's a doctor in town who'll see you."

Alexis and Sam had a feeling that the people in this town were all aware of Sonny and Jason. Kristina looked around the place.

--- "Where the hell are we?"

--- "Brockton—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "I've never even heard of this place. What's the population?"

--- "250."

Sam groaned and sat on the couch.

--- "That's just great and exciting; a place smaller than Port Charles."

Jason cleared his throat.

--- "Well, of that 250, 75 are cows."

Kristina flopped herself on the couch beside her sister.

--- "That's just wonderful."

Molly smiled and squeezed herself between her two sisters.

--- "I like burgers."

Alexis squeezed the bridge of her nose; this was not going to be fun.

* * *

**Any ideas as to how many puzzle pieces there are in this story, and who is behind everything? Is it more than one person? hmmm.... We're probably halfway there.**

**PLEASE REVIEW...**


	23. Torture

Yesterday was not a bad day at all. You just never know until you wake up how you're going to feel. Thanks to those who sent their thoughts.

I had a wee bit of writer's block… hope this is good. **Review** and let me know what you think about this LONG filler.

~Mel.

It's Fashion Week here in NYC… I'm not promising anything in re a new chapter for the next few days. Gotta read, and spread my butterfly wings. (If it rains all wknd, then well, I'll be around.)

UNEDITED

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Torture**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Day One**

After Jason left, the fighting immediately began.

--- "I'm not sharing a room with Molly!"

--- "I'm not sharing a room with Kristina!"

--- "I guarantee that these rooms are going to be smaller than the ones you had us in at Wyndemere."

Alexis sat down on the couch and thought about the ways she would torture and murder the person who was after her family; this inconvenience of having to move out of the lake house, then into Wyndemere, then mourn Sam, then now, move to this dark house was pissing her off.

She got up and walked upstairs to examine the rooms. The first room had bunk beds.

--- "Of course… what else would there be but bunk beds in the middle of nowhere."

The other room had a full size bed… that was the extent of the room's furnishings.

--- "I seriously don't understand what kind of hideout this is. This place already makes me want to just turn around and go back to Port Charles… God, I'm talking to myself!"

The bathroom was not as small as she had expected it to be given the size of the bedrooms, but it wasn't very large nonetheless; at least not large enough to accommodate the four of them. Alexis could already imagine the hell she was going to be put through.

As she walked downstairs, Sam ran up with her hand covering her mouth; Alexis knew the look on her daughter's face very well. She followed Sam up to the bathroom.

--- "So, I see the morning sickness has finally struck."

Sam finished vomiting and rinsed her mouth out.

--- "Either that, or the smell from this place."

Alexis took in a deep breath that she immediately regretted.

--- "GOD! It smells like cow crap in this house."

--- "No kidding! We're living on a damn farm, Mom!"

--- "Damn Jason."

Alexis leaned over the stairway.

--- "Kristina! Molly! Come up here!"

The two girls came up the steps.

--- "Okay, since there's only two rooms, we're obviously going to be sharing. So, the room over there has bunk beds—"

Molly loved bunk beds because they reminded her of sleep-away camp.

--- "Mommy, I wanna sleep in there!"

Alexis smiled.

--- "That's exactly what I thought, baby; you and Kristina get to share that room!"

Kristina crossed her arms and pouted.

--- "Why do I have to share a room with Molly? And why in the world would I want to sleep on bunk beds!"

Alexis sighed and shook her head.

--- "Kristina, I'm not going to argue with you. Your sister's pregnant and I've never slept on a bunk a day in my life, so you're overruled. Now this, is the only bathroom in the house, so you can't spend an eternity showering in there—"

Molly stuck her tongue out at Kristina.

--- "That means you Krissy!"

--- "Whatever, Sam's no better—"

Sam jumped in.

--- "Um, I don't think so! You're the one—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "Ok, Sam, do me a favor and not get into it with your sisters! You're 29 and pregnant; grow up. Kristina, you take too long in the bathroom and you know it. Molly stick your tongue out again, and it gets cut off—"

Sam leaned against the wall and shook her head.

--- "Mommy's not in a good mood—"

Alexis glared at her.

--- "ANYWAY, do not lock the bathroom door when you're in there because—"

Sam covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom.

--- "Well, that's why."

**************************************

**Day Three**

Sam had a rough night; she could not sleep a wink because every time she fell asleep, she was up vomiting. She walked down to the kitchen after she emptied her stomach; Alexis was cradling a cup of coffee. Sam grabbed the cup from her and took a large gulp before running to the kitchen sink to spit it out.

--- "What the hell was that!? Are you drinking mud?! Better yet, are you drinking cow sh!t?"

Alexis looked as though she had not slept either.

--- "That was my attempt at coffee."

Sam rinsed her mouth.

--- "How did you manage to make this thing taste and look like mud?! God, does this place have a coffee maker?"

Alexis pointed to it on the counter. Sam opened it up.

--- "Mom, I really don't know how you can be so brilliant and so daft at the same time! Where's the filter!?"

Alexis was holding her head up with her hand; she turned to look at her eldest daughter.

--- "I'm sorry, honey, but seeing as I didn't get any sleep at all because someone was up vomiting all night, I forgot."

Sam took her mother's cup away after she began brewing a new pot of coffee.

--- "HEY! I was trying to drink that."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Mom, I love you too much to let you drink, no EAT this crap. God, Molly could've made a better cup."

Alexis put her head down on the table.

--- "Bless you."

Kristina and Molly walked into the kitchen.

--- "What's for breakfast?"

Alexis groaned and moved to find something for the girls to eat, but Sam pushed her back in her chair. She put her head back on the table.

--- "Mom, I know that Kristina isn't the most pleasant person right now, but I don't want my sisters to taste what I was just subjected to."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Gee, thanks Sam."

Sam pulled her sister up.

--- "Why don't you make yourself useful—"

--- "I am useful!"

Sam looked at her sister.

--- "At something other than bitching."

Alexis let out a snore. Sam, Kristina, and Molly stifled laughs.

--- "Mommy's tired."

Sam felt bad because she was the cause of her mother's exhaustion.

--- "Yea, that's my fault; I was in and out of bed all night throwing up. So, let's be really quiet so that she can get a little bit of rest."

Kristina and Sam got the bowls out and filled them with cereal, but they could not find the milk.

--- "Are you telling me there's no milk in this damn house?!"

Kristina crossed her arms.

--- "I thought that savior Jason said that this house was stocked with everything we'd need? This place sucks."

Molly ran from the table; Sam called after her.

--- "Baby, where are you going?!"

She smiled at her sister.

--- "To get milk!"

--- "You know where it is?"

Molly nodded her head.

--- "It's outside!"

Kristina thought that was weird.

--- "Why would the milk be outside?"

Molly rolled her eyes

--- "There's 75 cows in this town!"

Sam and Kristina laughed out loud causing Alexis to jolt awake.

--- "What's going on?"

Molly moved to sit in her mother's lap.

--- "There's no milk for cereal."

Kristina handed her mother the freshly made cup of coffee.

--- "Molly was going to go try and milk one of the 75 cows in this God forsaken town."

Alexis kissed the top of her daughter's head.

--- "Isn't my baby efficient?"

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "We would've asked you for some, Mom, but we figured yours was curdled."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "You're just gross, Samantha. Krissy, get my purse for me please."

Sam looked at her mother questioningly as Alexis.

--- "What do you need your purse for?"

Alexis looked up at her eldest daughter and smiled.

--- "Jason gave me a vile of the paralytic they used on you. I'm pretty sure that I like you better that way; still and quiet."

Sam scoffed.

--- "Yea, and who exactly would stop you from drinking that sorry excuse for coffee in the morning?"

**************************************

**Day Five**

The family was getting cabin fever; they had not seen daylight in days since the windows were boarded up. Alexis figured that they all needed a couple of hours out of the house.

--- "Come on girls, let's see what this town has to offer us."

They walked out of the house and headed towards the barn. Alexis unlocked the lock, and was shocked by the vehicle Jason left for them to use.

--- "What the hell?!"

Sam laughed at the beat-up red pickup in the barn.

--- "Ok, I'm going to assume that we're supposed to blend in with the 'crowd.'"

Alexis handed her daughter the keys; she had never driven a pickup truck before.

--- "I'm not driving this thing."

Sam gladly took the keys from her mother; she had not driven in about two weeks. She ran into the barn and attempted to start it, but nothing happened.

--- "You've got to be kidding me!"

Alexis knew absolutely nothing about cars.

--- "What's the problem?"

Sam popped the hood and walked around the front of the car to take a look.

--- "Other than a dead battery—"

She checked the oil.

--- "There's hardly any oil in here!"

Alexis threw her hands up in the air.

--- "When was the last time Jason actually used this hideout?!"

It was a relatively warm day for upstate New York, so Molly sat on the ground; she was happy to get out of the barricaded house. Kristina joined her.

--- "Didn't he give us an untraceable phone to call him from?"

Alexis pulled out the phone and dialed the number; he picked up immediately.

--- "Morgan."

Alexis screamed into the phone.

--- "Jason, what the hell kind of insane asylum have you put us into?"

He sighed on the line.

--- "What's the problem?"

Alexis scoffed.

--- "The problem? The first problem is that we're in the middle of nowhere! The second problem is that there are two bedrooms in this house, and ONE bathroom! The third is that the food you've stocked this house with is CRAP! Sam's pregnant, Molly's growing and ALREADY hyper, and Kristina is picky; we can't live on a diet of orange soda, barbeque chips, DRY cereal, and crappy coffee!—"

Jason groaned on the line.

--- "Sorry about the food. I told Spinelli to stock the house; he didn't know why though. I already told you that you're not on some kind of vacation; you need the bare minimum right now. I'm not supplying you with a mansion and indoor pool—"

Alexis screamed again.

--- "Isn't that what you do for Carly?! You send her to the island whenever your dumb ass mob goons are after her! Why the hell are we in this twilight zone?! Why couldn't we go there!?"

Alexis looked around the area; she began to rant without letting Jason get a word in edgewise.

--- "Jason, we've been standing out here for about five minutes, and not a single car has driven by! You couldn't have found it in yourself to put us somewhere near civilization?! We're going to kill each other here! There's no TV here! No radio! No nothing… Not to mention the fact that the windows are all boarded up! We're going crazy here! Kristina scared the sh!t out of Sam the other night when she was trying to walk through the hallway without the light on! This house is dark and scary. Poor Molly is terrified! I swear to you Jason, if that child comes into Sam's and my room again to sleep on that tiny bed, I'm going to kill you; that bed is too small to have my Tasmanian devil in there with Sam and me. What are you trying to do to us? I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I got here!—"

Jason cut Alexis off before she could continue.

--- "Alexis, I'm sorry you don't like it, but I think it's better this way—"

Alexis laughed.

--- "You know what would be better? If you found us a bigger place, in a more populated area, where if someone did try to hack us in the night, perhaps PEOPLE would discover our dead bodies, instead of bunch of COWS!"

Molly looked at her mother with fear in her eyes. Alexis lipped to her daughter that she was sorry.

--- "Put Sam on the phone."

--- "Ass."

Alexis handed the phone to Sam.

--- "Look Sam, I'm sorry about the house; it's what I could spring on short notice. I can't send your family to the island because we don't have an idea of who's after you, or where they are; the farm house is the safest place because no one knows about it and the most accessible."

Sam looked at her mother; she was pacing back and forth from agitation of being cooped up in the house; the car not working was her last straw.

--- "Look, we'll be fine. My mom's just tired, and the girls and I want to go to town. But, answer me this: how the hell I'm supposed to drive a car with a crap battery and no oil?"

--- "They're on the top shelf."

Sam looked and noticed a battery and cans of oil.

--- "Ok, fine. Alright, I'm going to get this car running, and we're going to see what true hell you've put us in. If it's worse than this, I'm driving out of this dump."

Jason sighed on the line.

--- "Just be careful. There's a gun in the glove compartment."

--- "Thanks."

Sam hung up the phone and handed it to her mother. She got on a stepladder and reached for the cans of oil and battery. Alexis ran up to her.

--- "What are you doing?!"

--- "Getting these things down."

--- "Samantha, you have to be careful; you're pregnant!"

Sam rolled her eyes and got off the stepladder; Alexis got on it and grabbed the items and handed them, one by one to her daughter.

Sam went to slide under the car, but Alexis stopped her again.

--- "Let me do it."

Sam laughed at the thought.

--- "Mom, you don't know anything about cars."

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "Well teach me because you're not doing this."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Fine."

Alexis got onto the pulley and Sam showed her where to unscrew the plug to drain the oil; she handed her a pan to catch the oil.

--- "Mom, be careful."

Molly and Kristina ran over and got on their hands and knees to watch their mother's first attempt at changing a car's oil.

--- "Great, I've got an audience."

Molly and Kristina put their thumbs up. Sam smiled.

--- "You'll do great! Make sure you've got the pan positioned to catch the oil."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "I'm not dumb Samantha, I got it!"

Alexis did just as she was told and successfully drained the oil without getting anything on herself. Everyone rejoiced.

--- "Great job, Mom! Who knew you had it in you."

Alexis was quite proud of herself.

After Sam filled the car with oil and changed the battery, everyone got in and drove out of the driveway. Suddenly the car stopped.

--- "What in the world?"

She and Alexis hopped out of the car and noticed a long line of oil in the driveway. Sam stared at her mother.

--- "Um, did you bother to put the oil cap back on?!"

Alexis shrugged.

--- "I'm pretty sure I did!"

Sam shook her head and got under the car before Alexis could say anything.

--- "MOM! If you put it on, you definitely didn't tighten it! It fell off!"

Alexis bent down to look at her daughter.

--- "Sorry?"

Sam came back from under the car covered in oil.

--- "Looks like we're not going anywhere; that was all the oil we had."

Sam started walking back into the house.

--- "Have fun pushing the car back into the barn! Come on Molly!"

Molly jumped out of the car, and ran toward her sister.

--- "Great job, Mommy!"

She stuck her tongue out at her mother.

Kristina looked at her mother and shook her head.

Alexis wanted to kill Jason for all this; now they were really stuck.

**************************************

**Day Seven**

Alexis was lying on the bed she shared with her eldest daughter; she covered her head with her pillow trying to drown out the daily banging and screaming from the only bathroom down the hall.

--- "Unlock the door, Kristina; I have to pee!"

Molly was standing outside the door jumping up and down.

--- "I'm taking a shower, Molly!"

They had been living at the house for a week; the fight over the bathroom was continuous. Kristina constantly locked the door and took too long; Molly always had to use it whenever someone was in there (which was all of the time seeing as there was only one bathroom, and four people using it); Alexis never had a moment of peace in there since Kristina and Molly ended up barging in there because they were arguing about something or another; and Sam—"

--- "I'm going to vomit!"

Sam had been asleep, but her morning sickness affected her in the morning, mid-afternoon, and evening. She bolted from the bedroom and toward the bathroom. Molly saw her sister running toward her; she knew that this was not going to be a pleasant sight. She pounded on the door.

--- "Kristina! Sam's gonna throw-up… AGAIN!"

When Sam was just about to upchuck on the floor, Kristina opened the door. It was too late, Sam vomited on her freshly bathed sister before emptying out the rest of the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

--- "WHAT THE HELL, SAM!"

Alexis threw the pillow onto the bed and walked out of her room into the fiery pit of hell.

--- "What's going on NOW? Kristina, why do you have vomit all over you… forget it."

Alexis pushed Kristina into the bathroom.

--- "Take another shower, you smell."

Molly was still doing the pee-pee dance.

--- "Mommy, I still have to pee!"

Alexis saw the look of desperation on her youngest daughters face; Sam was leaned over the toilet, and Kristina was in the shower.

--- "Okay… um, this bathroom is too small. Baby, come here."

Alexis pulled her daughter's pants down, lifted her up to the vanity sink, and sat her there.

--- "Pee."

Molly shrugged her shoulders and began emptying her bladder. Alexis turned her attention to Sam.

--- "Honey, are you alright? Remember, this only lasts for the first trimester."

Sam looked at her mother as though she had been smacked in the face.

--- "Mom, that's three months long. I've already thrown up five times today; it's only eleven in the morning."

Kristina called out from the shower.

--- "You need to get it together. I don't appreciate last night's dinner on me."

Alexis was annoyed with her middle daughter.

--- "You know what? Perhaps if you weren't acting so selfish and silly by locking the door every time you're in here, Sam wouldn't have vomited on you!"

She stuck her head out from the curtain.

--- "Heaven forbid I should want some privacy. I'm such a bitch."

Alexis sighed.

--- "First of all, watch you language. Secondly, take a look at the scene out here: Sam's head is in the toilet, Molly is peeing in the sink, and I'm going to lose my mind. How exactly would you expect to have any privacy? I lost my right to it from the time that you all were born; so get over yourself."

Molly cleared her throat.

--- "Mommy—"

Alexis handed her some toilet paper, and the wastebasket. Kristina was not happy with the situation at all.

--- "WHATEVER, Mom."

Alexis put her face in her hands to muffle a scream.

--- "Just do what I tell you, Kristina; I'm not arguing with you."

Sam lost another meal. Alexis rubbed her daughter's back.

--- "Honey, I promise it'll get better. Weren't you sick when—"

She stopped in her tracks, she didn't want to bring up baby Lila. Sam looked up her at her.

--- "It's okay, Mom. I was sick, but I guess it was so long ago, I forgot how bad it was."

Molly was growing impatient; she jumped off the sink, startling Alexis in the process.

--- "Jesus Christ, Molly! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Molly fixed her clothes.

--- "You left me up there!"

Alexis stood up.

--- "Well sorry! Wash your hands."

She walked out of the bathroom and returned a second later with a bottle of bleach and a sponge. After Molly walked out, she cleaned the sink, much to Sam's chagrin; the smell of the bleach made her nauseous, so she vomited again.

--- "Mom, couldn't that have waited?"

--- "Your sister just peed in the sink where we brush our teeth, no it couldn't have waited. Besides you were going to throw up anyway."

--- "That's not funny."

--- "Sorry."

--- "There's no way that I didn't vomit this kid up. I need a shower. Kristina, get out!"

Kristina begrudgingly shut off the shower, grabbed her towel, wrapped it around herself, and stormed out of the bathroom. Alexis shook her head and walked out; this was truly the longest week of her life.

* * *

_**I know it's strange to have a long filler with writer's block, but that's because I had these four things I couldn't get together into a long enough chapter... that's why they're all different and you got them all.**_

**Now, REVIEW!!! :o)**


	24. Watch

UNEDITED.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty- Four**

**Watch**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_--- "Let me explain something to you. You're basically going to need to choose: your family or theirs. It's a simple choice really. I'll give you, three seconds to think about it… 1…"_

_His eyes filled with fear… how could he make such a choice? _

_--- "2…"_

_The guns were cocked back._

_--- "3…"_

_He couldn't let his kids die._

_--- "I choose my kids!"_

_The man smiled._

_--- "Good choice. I can't say that you would've survived had you made any other choice."_

**************************************

It had been a month since they moved to the farmhouse, and there were no attempts made on their lives. Nikolas, with some coaxing from Sam, convinced Jason and Alexis that Alexis and the girls would be best served being seen around Port Charles; that way, people would not realize that they had gone into hiding. They had gotten a more accommodating car which they hid in the barn so that the very few drivers on the road would continue to think the house was abandoned and unoccupied. Actually, because the house was so off ways from real civilization, it would not have mattered if they had left the car in plain sight; the house itself was not in plain view.

In any case, Alexis was not happy with this idea because that meant leaving Sam. Since she had already almost lost her daughter, leaving her in the house alone when the people after their lives were still out there, was not comforting to her.

Sam, on the other hand, was more than happy to have the solitude away from her family as the house was tiny, and she missed having her own place. In addition, having been away for a month, and considering the fact that everyone thought that she was dead, she missed her life… more than that, she missed Lucky. Therefore, she enjoyed having him by, much to Alexis' relief and mortification, whenever her family went into town.

_**Flashback**_

_The first time they left Sam alone, with Lucky staying with her, Alexis pulled her daughter into their bedroom._

_--- "Samantha—"_

_Sam crossed her arms across her chest._

_--- "Mom, I haven't done anything—"_

_Alexis pointed to the bed she shared with her daughter._

_--- "I don't want you two in this room while your sisters and I are gone."_

_Sam pursed her lips._

_--- "Mom, are you kidding me?"_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "I'm not joking; I do not want you to anywhere near this room, or any common place in this house, for that matter."_

_Sam turned red._

_--- "What do you take me for?"_

_Alexis stared at her daughter. Sam rolled her eyes._

_--- "Fine."_

_Alexis smiled at her daughter, and kissed her on the forehead._

_--- "Good! Now, let's go."_

_She pushed Sam out of the room, and pulled out a set of keys; she locked the bedroom door._

_Sam's mouth hung open._

_--- "I cannot believe you just did that!"_

_Alexis put the keys back in her pocket._

_--- "You can thank Jason for the keys; they're probably the only thing he did right for me while we've been here."_

_Sam shook her head at her mother as she made her way down the stairs._

_--- "You don't trust me… I'm hurt."_

_Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter._

_--- "No, I don't."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Whenever they were in town, Alexis and the girls had to make sure to not appear too happy. Kristina noted that Molly looked too happy at the sight of the burger and fries in front of her.

--- "Molly, stop smiling so much! Sam's dead… _remember?_"

Molly looked as though she was going to cry; even though she knew that Sam was at the farmhouse waiting for them, remembering the way her sister looked in the coffin, and the fact that forgetting to pretend that she was dead could lead to the bad men coming after her and her family, always made her sad. Alexis noticed the tears in her youngest daughter's eyes; she kissed her on the forehead and whispered in her ear.

--- "Baby it's okay. Because you're young, people don't expect you to be sad all of the time, okay?"

Molly nodded her head. Alexis brushed her daughter's fallen tears from her cheeks.

--- "Good girl. Your only job is to remember not to mention your sister, okay? I know you're a big girl, but I don't want you to forget that no one is supposed to know about her and say something accidentally. Understand?"

Molly nodded her head again. Alexis kissed her again, and stole a fry off of her plate; Molly smiled at her mother.

--- "Hey!"

Alexis smiled back.

--- "Hey, what? I paid for it, silly goose."

She stuck her finger in some ketchup and put it on her daughter's nose. This made Molly laugh.

Kristina shook her head and walked out of the restaurant. Alexis was confused about Kristina's attitude.

--- "Baby, stay here, don't move."

Alexis pointed to Mike to keep an eye out for Molly; he nodded his head. She ran out of the restaurant after her middle daughter.

--- "Kristina, come back here!"

Kristina stopped, but did not return to her mother. Alexis was not in the mood to have a war of the wills with her daughter, so she walked up to her.

--- "What is your problem?"

Kristina glared at her mother; although she wanted to scream at her, she knew that she could not, so she whispered (forcefully) her grievances.

--- "I'm tired of this Mom! We've been hiding out for a month! We have to pretend that Sam's dead, meanwhile she's at that tiny ass farmhouse having a go with Lucky, and we're here trying a win an Oscar for best grieving family! I haven't been able to hang out with any of my friends, everyone thinks we've got some apartment because it's too painful to go back to the lake house. Mom, I'm tired of lying! I just want this all to end!"

She began to cry; passersby who knew the family assumed that the teen was mourning her sister. Alexis pulled Kristina to her and softly spoke to her.

--- "Sweetheart, I know that this isn't easy. Jason, the PCPD are looking into this, and even _Sam_ are looking into who's after us. We're going to get through this. Okay? You have to believe that."

Kristina nodded her head.

--- "Good, now, let's get back inside."

They began walking toward Kelly, but Alexis stopped.

--- "Krissy, please don't ever talk about your sister having a go with Lucky."

Kristina laughed and nodded.

--- "Sorry."

**************************************

_After he beat her up and left her for dead, then left her to be with his mistress, Layna slowly got up, and painfully packed her bags. She went to the school her boys attended, and picked them up early. Within two hours, she and her sons left Greece, and headed to Sweden._

_A few weeks later, she received notice somehow that her husband had died under mysterious circumstances. She was officially a widow, although it did not matter to her because she had been one since Andreus had died._

**************************************

Just as they were about to walk into the restaurant, Mac stopped them.

--- "Hi Alexis, Kristina."

Kristina smiled at Mac and went inside to join Molly. Alexis stayed outside to chat with him.

_**Flashback**_

_Alexis and Mac were sitting in the PCPD investigating Sam's 'death' and the attacks on their lives, while Kristina and Molly spent some time with Jax, Carly, Michael and Morgan. Mac suddenly stopped looking at a file and stared at Alexis for a few moments, taking in her beauty; it was a beauty he was amazed that he had not previously noticed._

_--- "I know that this might seem somewhat inappropriate considering the time, but I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"_

_Alexis blushed at the thought. During the month her family had secretly lived outside of Port Charles, Mac and Alexis had become friends. Because Mac did not know that Sam was still alive and Alexis continued to play the grieving mother whenever she was in Port Charles, he decided that as a person who had previously lost a child, he would help her deal with her grief. Because she did not like lying to him, whenever he brought the topic up regarding her feelings about Sam's 'death,' she changed the subject; he quickly picked up on her discomfort. As a result, the two found other things to talk about; they soon realized that they had a lot in common and actually liked each other's company._

_She liked Mac as a friend, but she was not sure about whether or not she liked him in that kind of way. Plus, considering that she and her girls lived an hour out, going on a dinner date would take some serious maneuvering. _

_--- 'Um, could we do lunch?"_

_He smiled at her._

_--- "Whatever makes you comfortable."_

_--- "I mean, I just don't want to be away from the girls for too long—"_

_He put his hand up._

_--- "You don't have to explain anything to me Alexis. I understand."_

_She smiled at him._

_--- "I appreciate that."_

_He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek._

_--- "How's tomorrow?"_

_She blushed and nodded._

_--- "It's fine."_

**************************************

_The next day she took a leap and decided to leave Kristina and Molly with Sam so that she could go to Port Charles. _

_--- "Mom, you're leaving the rugrats with me so that you can go mack it with Mac?"_

_Alexis rolled her eyes at her daughter while she tried to find something to wear. Even though they lived on the farm, much to Jason's dismay, their wardrobe had not much diminished in size. Alexis reached for a blazer and slacks, but Sam smacked her mother's hand away._

_--- "Ok, you haven't had any in a while, Mom—"_

_Alexis reddened; regardless of how frank Sam was, she never liked having actual discussions of her sex life with her daughter._

_--- "Samantha, I'm not having this discussion with you."_

_Sam laughed at her mother shyness._

_--- "Mom please, you know that you've been eying Mac's handcuffs and police baton."_

_Alexis was the color of a beet._

_--- "Okay, I don't know, but do you leave the farm at night and just sleep in the gutter? You're disgusting Samantha. A police baton? God."_

_Sam continued to laugh at her mother as she found an outfit for her._

_--- "Here, this is perfect."_

_Alexis shook her head._

_--- "Don't you have a toilet to stick your head into?"_

_--- "Mom! Just look at the outfit—"_

_Alexis rolled her eyes._

_--- "I guess it'll work."_

_Sam grabbed a pair of shoes and a purse._

_--- "Please, this is more than just working. When he sees you all dolled up, he's going to want to Mirandize you in the middle of the MetroCourt."_

_Alexis pointed to the door._

_--- "Out."_

_She dressed into the pair of tight jeans, pumps, and a nice, almost revealing top; if not for the fact that Sam was significantly shorter than she, Alexis would've assumed that the jeans she wore belonged to her eldest daughter. She had never worn or seen them before; she was certain that Sam had picked them up. _

_--- "SAMANTHA!"_

_Sam walked into the room and whistled._

_--- "Whoa! Somebody's looking to—"_

_Alexis glared at Sam, prompting her not to finish her sentence. Sam innocently smiled at her mother._

_--- "What the hell is up with these jeans?"_

_She shrugged._

_--- "I don't know, what's wrong with them? KRISTINA!"_

_Kristina walked into the bedroom._

_--- "Oh wooow, Mom you look great! Getting lu—"_

_Once again, Alexis glared at her daughter; she pointed a finger at Sam._

_--- "You need to stop teaching your sisters—"_

_Sam put her hands up in innocence._

_--- "Clearly you've forgotten that Kristina over here is no innocent."_

_Kristina rolled her eyes at her sister._

_--- "Whatever."_

_Alexis interrupted what she hoped would not be an argument between her two older daughters._

_--- "OKAY! Are you sure these pants are fine?"_

_Both Kristina and Sam nodded._

_--- "Fine, I guess I don't have a choice anyway; I have to meet him by two… it's already one- fifteen."_

_Sam dismissively waved her hand._

_--- "You'll be casually late; big deal."_

**************************************

_When she got to the Metro Court, he was already there waiting for her; she had never noticed how beautiful his eyes were until that moment when she walked up to him. _

_He smiled at her._

_--- "Wow, you look great."_

_She blushed._

_--- "So do you."_

_They spent the lunch discussing everything and anything. When he made the move to walk her to the car, she leaned forward and kissed him. The two ended up in a romantic embrace that led to the back of her, or rather, Jason's SUV._

_--- "Oh my God, I feel like a teenager!"_

_He smiled and handed her her top. _

_--- "Yea, I definitely haven't done that since, like last week with that new ADA."_

_She glared at him. He smiled._

_--- "I'm joking."_

_She leaned forward and kissed him again._

_When he left, she took the car directly to the car wash before Sam discovered what had happened._

_**End of Flashback**_

Mac moved Alexis away from the window where everyone in Kelly's, including her daughters, could see them. He gave her a fiery kiss.

--- "That was for yesterday."

Alexis smiled at him.

--- "Well, I enjoyed it; it was a nice lunch."

He kissed her again.

--- "That it was."

Agent Raynor watched them from a distance; he had been watching Alexis and her family for some time.

**************************************

_--- "She's alive."_

_The person on the other line was livid._

_--- "What the hell do you mean that she's alive?! They had a funeral; she was in the coffin. She was CREMATED!"_

_The caller knew that this news would not be taken well, especially since the woman was hanging on by a thread in the hospital; if she died before they all did, it would all be ruined._

_--- "All I can say is that she's still alive."_

_--- "Well, where is she now!?"_

_--- "Brockton."_

_A glass vase was thrown against the wall._

_--- "That is a Corinthos area; Jason Morgan helped her escape, didn't he."_

_The caller sighed._

_--- "Yes."_

_--- "Fine."_

_The phone was slammed shut, and a gun was pulled out from the desk drawer._

* * *

**ON STRIKE until I get some more feedback... What do you like? What don't you like? What would you like to see? **

**Reviews sincerely help form the direction of the story as to whether or not I'm moving too fast, too slow, or just losing you (Sorry Liv)... I'm on the verge of a massacre...**


	25. Check

_I was going to stay on strike for two weeks, but I figured that it would be unfair to those who take the time to review and give their input; it is very much appreciated. I was stumped on how to write the next chapter, but because of your opinions of what you wanted to see, I got it written._

_Please continue to **review**!_

_~Mel._

_BTW, had anyone noticed how wacko this site has been acting?? Chapter 24 was sometimes made unavailable, and then it didn't show the reviews for that chapter, and moved recently updated stories away from the top… it was crazy._

_Anyway,** PLEASE REVIEW….**_

_This is unedited… I'm sorry about all of the unedited chapters… you know what I'll do when I review it. Check back later._

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty- Five**

**Check**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Agent Raynor sat outside of the house watching. He knew from the way that Alexis had been reacting after the funeral that something was off. He saw the change in her attitude. He loved the woman, even though she had never given him the time of day. He watched her interact with her daughter; she was so happy. He wanted to be with her, but it was obvious that it would never be.

He started the engine and drove back toward Port Charles.

**************************************

_The gun was taken from the drawer and placed on the desk. The person grabbed the phone and dialed._

_--- "I want him unchained. I'm coming down there."_

_The person walked the long way to the room Sonny had been imprisoned in for the past eight months. When Sonny looked up and saw who was standing before him, he could not claim to be shocked._

_--- "Well, of all people, why am I—"_

_Sonny was smacked in the mouth with the gun._

_--- "I don't believe I asked you to speak; you will speak when spoken to."_

_Sonny rubbed where he had been struck in the mouth, flashed a smile and nodded._

_--- "Well, I'm sure that you've already figured out that you're not were not here for any other reason but to keep Jason Morgan busy?"_

_Sonny looked at the speaker, then nodded his head when he realized that an answer was expected from him._

_--- "Well, it seems that your Enforcer has found himself entangled in my little game. I don't like that. It was a four-player game, not five. So, it seems that we have a bit of a problem."_

_The person indicated for the guards to force Sonny to kneel on the floor._

_--- "See, now that Jason is involved, the game has to change. It looks like we're playing Chess—"_

_Sonny gave his captor a perplexed look. The person smiled._

_--- "Well, that basically means that I've got my Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen and King, otherwise known as Molly, Kristina, Jason, Samantha, and Alexis—"_

_Sonny shook his head._

_--- "What's your point?"_

_The person aimed the gun._

_--- "The point is that the pawns always die first."_

_At that, the weapon was fired._

**************************************

Alexis was all smiles about her developing relationship with Mac. It was true, she had not been in a relationship in some time. She loved the way that he made he made her feel; it had been a long time since she felt that way.

Sam loved the glow in her mother's face, and appreciated the timing of it all considering that it was a good distraction from the constant loom of death on their heads. In addition, it gave her mother something else to think about instead of fawning over her pregnancy.

--- "Mom, look at you, you're absolutely radiant this morning. You got lucky last night didn't you?"

Alexis turned red and hid her face behind the book she was reading; she hated when Sam brought up the topic of her having sex. Sam, on the other hand, enjoyed tormenting her mother.

--- "What happened to Agent Raynor? Are you not into the perverted types?"

Alexis put her book down and rolled her eyes.

--- "He's not a pervert—"

Sam poured herself a cup of coffee; Alexis quickly got up and took it from her hands. She poured her daughter a cup of orange juice instead.

--- "You can't have caffeine, remember?"

Sam sighed; it had been weeks since she tasted a drop of coffee; the doctor put her on a strict diet since he learned of Sam's previous stillbirth.

--- "Anyway—did you forget about Mr. Creampuff's underwear?"

Alexis looked confused by Sam's nickname for Agent Raynor.

--- "Mr. Creampuff?"

Sam winked at her mother. Alexis groaned at her daughter's humor.

--- "And you call him perverted? You give the gutter a completely new name. It's sick Sam. I think that your pregnancy has made you worse than normal."

Molly walked into the room at the end of the conversation.

--- "What are you talking about?"

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "Creampuffs."

Molly always had a sweet-tooth, so she smiled at the thought of one.

--- "Hey, I want one!"

Alexis spit out her coffee as Sam laughed in excitement.

--- "No, baby, you don't. At least not until you're old, really, really old! Samantha, stop it."

Molly frowned.

--- "But I like them! They're really good!"

Sam walked out of the room before she wet her pants; her pregnancy left her with a weakened bladder. Alexis shook her head.

--- "Baby, they're just not good for you; no matter how good they are, they're not good for you. Okay?"

Molly shrugged and began eating her lunch.

--- "Are we going to Port Charles today?"

Alexis had planned on going into town to see Nikolas; she had not really had a chance to spend some time with him, but she also wanted to see Mac. She was however, not going to sacrifice time with her daughter to see her boyfriend; considering the constant threat on their lives, Alexis spent as much time with the girls as possible.

--- "Well, I'm going in to see Nikolas. Do you want to come with me?"

Molly thought about it for a second.

--- "SAMMY?!"

Sam walked back into the room.

--- "What's up, clone?"

--- "What do you have planned for today?"

Sam frowned at her sister.

--- "Um, I guess I'll go hightailing it on one of the cows—"

Alexis smacked her eldest daughters arm.

--- "Be quiet—Molly, you know that Sam can't leave the property. Since the car Jason had for us here isn't good, and I have the other car, she's stuck here. Lucky doesn't take her out, right Sam?"

--- "Nope. I've been cooped in this house for longer than I've ever cared to be. I don't think you'll enjoy that Mol. I think you and Kristina should probably go to Port Charles with Mom."

Alexis eyed Sam suspiciously.

--- "Molly, why don't you go take a bath and get ready? Um, is Krissy awake?"

Molly shook her head.

--- "No, she's still snoring."

--- "Ok, well, can you go wake her up, and tell her to come eat something while you take a bath?"

--- "Okay!"

Alexis smiled at her youngest daughter. When Molly was out of the room, she glared at her eldest.

--- "What are you up to, Samantha?"

Sam gave her an innocent look.

--- "Mom, I don't know what you're talking about."

Alexis pointed to the chair; indicating that Sam sit down. Sam looked at her mother, but she saw that Alexis meant business, so she complied.

--- "Samantha, I know you're up to something. You're too keen on getting Molly out of here."

Sam sighed; there was no sense in keeping quiet as her mother would continue to badger her until she got an answer.

--- "Fine. Lucky's coming over—"

--- "That's nothing new, Sam."

--- "He's taking me into town to see the obstetrician."

Alexis sat down; she was relieved because she had thought her daughter was up to something mischievous.

--- "That's big! How are you two doing?"

Sam smiled, but there was a sadness behind it that Alexis picked up on.

--- "What's the matter?"

Sam grew emotional; the hormones made her highly susceptible to crying.

--- "I don't know Mom. I mean, I love Lucky, I do, but I just feel…"

Alexis grabbed a box of tissues and wiped a few of Sam's tears before she handed her daughter a tissue of her own.

--- "Honey, what is it? Are you scared?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "You don't want to be with him?"

She shrugged.

--- "I don't know. I look at the way that we're living now, and I know that it scares him to death. I mean, it scares me to death too, Mom. How am I going to bring a baby into the world, when someone is trying to kill us!"

Alexis took Sam's hands into her own.

--- "Honey, by the time this baby is born, we're going to be safe and sound. Okay?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "But, that's not only it."

--- "Well, what is it?"

Sam gave her mother a knowing look. Alexis sat back in her chair and sighed.

--- "Is it Jason?"

Sam nodded her head again.

--- "I don't know, Mom. I see the way that he looks at me, and I feel the old feelings returning."

Alexis pressed the bridge of her nose. Sam knew her mother was not happy.

--- "Mom, he gets me. He doesn't treat me like some porcelain doll that's about to break. Even though he knows I'm pregnant, he still lets me do my own thing. With Lucky, he's always handling me with kid gloves. And now that I'm pregnant, I know that he's going to hate it when I go back to work, when this is all over."

Alexis knew her daughter was a thrill-seeker; having a child would more than likely not change that. She also knew that Lucky would never be happy about that, and would probably cause a lot of problems for Sam and the baby. Jason, on the other hand, would respect Lucky as the baby's father, but he would still treat Sam as Sam, and allow her to be herself; he never tried to change her. Unfortunately, Jason's life was exceptionally too dangerous for Sam, and certainly far more dangerous for a baby; regardless of Lucky's hang-ups about Sam's profession, he was the better choice for her daughter.

--- "Well, honey, you just need to think about this, and figure out what it is you want. Don't jump into anything, okay?"

Sam wiped her tears and nodded. Alexis hated to see her daughter cry because it was so out of character; she changed the subject.

--- "So he's going to be able to see the baby for the first time?"

Sam nodded her head happily.

--- "Yea. It's really exciting because I know that the baby is like a kidney bean right now, but she's ours."

Alexis smiled.

--- "She?"

Sam glowed in excitement.

--- "Yea, I think I'm having another girl! I'd be happy with a boy as well, but I don't know, Mom, I just feel a little girl growing in here."

Alexis reached forward and touched her daughter's belly.

--- "Well, little one, whatever you are, I'm just happy that you're there. I hope that you're just like grand—nan—mim—um, me!"

Sam laughed.

--- "You don't know what you want the baby to call you, do you? I think Granny Lexi should be fine!"

Alexis smacked her daughter's leg.

--- "OW! Excuse me! Don't you know that you shouldn't be hitting a pregnant woman? Mother, I am with child!"

Alexis got up and kissed Sam on the top of the head.

--- "If you make that child call me Granny Lexi, I'll disown you."

**************************************

_He picked up his vibrating phone._

_--- "Hello?"_

_--- "Why didn't you tell me that she was alive?"_

_He sighed._

_--- "I didn't know—"_

_--- "Bullsh!t. You knew, and now you'll pay."_

_The phone went silent._

**************************************

Alexis, Molly, and Kristina arrived at Kelly's to meet Nikolas. They would've gone to the MetroCourt, but she could not bear to lie to Jax in his fact about Sam; she had been avoiding him since he was always able to read her.

Nikolas walked into Kelly's with Elizabeth; he wanted his aunt to know about their relationship.

--- "Hi Alexis, Kristina, Molly."

Alexis was shocked to see Liz with Nikolas. She got up and gave her nephew a hug and a kiss.

--- "Hi honey. How are you? – Hi Liz, are you having lunch with us?"

Elizabeth looked at Nikolas; he smiled.

--- "Well, yea I am—"

Her cell phone began to ring.

--- "Excuse me."

She stepped outside to answer the call.

Alexis smiled at Nikolas.

--- "Well, what's going on there?"

Nikolas rubbed his face.

--- "You know me too well. Um, I don't think there's a good way to put this. Liz and I are dating."

Alexis shook her head disapprovingly.

--- "What about Lucky—"

He stared at his aunt.

--- "What about Sonny? Ric?"

Alexis pointed her finger at him.

--- "Excuse me, but that is completely different, and you know it!"

--- "How?"

--- "I slept with Sonny, ONCE. Lucky, on the other hand, was married to Elizabeth."

Nikolas knew his aunt was right, but the heart wants what it wants.

--- "Fine."

She kissed him on the cheek.

--- "Just be sure that you know what you're doing, Nik. I don't want you and Lucky to lose your relationship over a casual thing—"

Nikolas glared at his aunt.

--- "This isn't a casual thing, Alexis—"

Suddenly there were gunshots. Alexis knocked Molly to the ground, while Nikolas and Kristina ducked.

**************************************

Agent Raynor was standing outside when the shooting began. He had no idea from where the gunmen were shooting. He just knew that he needed to take cover.

--- "Oh sh!t!"

Everyone outside ran for their lives.

**************************************

_They drove down to the pier and threw the body out of the car. Someone would come upon it, eventually._


	26. Encore Une Fois

_Shout out to Davisfanaswell for her lovely compliment. Thank you! It was very heartwarming!_

_However, parachutes at the ready… the cliffhanger Gods have been awakened and are pretty angry._

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty- Six**

**Encore Une Fois**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_The person sat in the apartment across from Kelly's watching the scene unfold._

_--- "Well, this should be a wake up call."_

_Suddenly the person saw something that was unexpected and certainly was not supposed to happen. In a flash, grabbing a gun and silencer from the desk, the person was out of the apartment, and rushing to the rooftop location of the gunman who made such a careless move. _

_--- "You stupid son of a bitch! How could you? That was NOT part of the deal."_

_The trigger was pulled and the gunman was down. For the first time in a long while, the person cried at the sight. A prayer, something that had not been said in years, was said in the hopes that everything would turn out fine. It wasn't supposed to happen._

**************************************

Lucky was on his way to pick Sam up so that they could go to the obstetrician when he got a phone call about the shooting at Kelly's. His heart began to race; that was his family's diner, and they were all prone to go there. In addition, Sam told him that her family was going there to meet Nikolas for lunch.

--- "Oh my God…"

He put his siren on the top of his car, pulled a U-turn on the highway, and made his way back toward Port Charles.

**************************************

The gunfire ceased. Alexis was still lying on the floor; she held Molly to her.

--- "Baby, are you okay?"

Molly was terrified, but she was fine. She had not been struck by any of the shots fired. She looked at her mother and nodded her head.

--- "Ok, that's good. Krissy, are you alright? Nik?"

There was no response from neither her teenaged daughter nor from Nikolas. Alexis was getting scared. She tried to crawl over to them, but Molly tightly held onto her.

--- "Molly, I need you to let go of me for a second, please."

There was an urgency in her mother's voice that Molly had never heard. Although she did not want to detach herself from Alexis, she did so nonetheless.

Alexis crawled over to Nikolas, who was on top of Kristina. Alexis saw blood on his shirt; she lifted it up. The bullet had struck him in the back.

--- "Oh my God."

She checked for a pulse; there was one.

--- "Thank goodness."

She knew that she should not move him, but she needed to get to her daughter.

Kristina also had blood on her. Alexis looked under her daughter's shirt until she saw where she had been struck: the stomach.

Alexis almost panicked, but she knew given the circumstances, that it was not the most prudent thing to do.

--- "Molly call 911!"

Molly reached in her mother's purse, but help arrived before she made the call.

**************************************

_She lied in the hospital bed in critical condition. The doctors were not optimistic about her prognosis, but she seemed to be fighting hard. This woman wanted to live; she needed to live._

**************************************

Agent Raynor noticed a woman lying on the ground after the shooting stopped. He ran to her.

--- "Are you alright?"

There was no response. He put checked her pulse; he could not find one. The bullet struck had struck her in the chest.

He shook his head.

--- "I'm so sorry."

Her phone began to ring. The display showed, "Lucky."

**************************************

The paramedics rushed Kristina and Nikolas to General Hospital, while Alexis and Molly followed in Jason's SUV.

Patrick and Robin, along with Matt Hunter, ran up and directed the gurneys to two separate rooms. Alexis wanted to have a chance to kiss her nephew and daughter before they were taken into the examination room, but she knew that any delay could mean risking their lives. Instead, she looked through the window and blew kisses at them.

--- "I love you Nikolas. Please stay strong for me. I know you've got the Cassidine stubbornness in you, so use that to fight through this. Fight for Spencer."

She walked over to the window where Kristina was being worked on. Her heart was breaking in two; like with Sam, she could not imagine losing Kristina. She felt as though she couldn't breathe. She put Molly down and sunk to the ground.

--- "Oh my God, I can't lose her, I can't lose her—"

Molly wrapped her arms around her mother. She was also afraid that Kristina might not make it, but her mother was upset; Molly wanted to try and make everything all better for Alexis, the way that she did for her whenever she was sad or scared.

--- "It's okay, Mommy."

Alexis looked at her little girl, and pulled her to her. She rocked and kissed Molly.

--- "Thank you, baby. You're my brave girl."

She continued to rock and kiss her daughter.

--- "I hope you're right."

She was grateful that Molly was safe in her arms and Sam was safe in Brockton, instead of in Port Charles where these people could reach her if they knew that she was alive. She wanted to call her daughter and let her know what was going on, but she knew that Sam would want to come to Port Charles if she knew, and since she had no means to get there (Lucky would never bring her), letting her know what was going on before she knew anything would only cause Sam to sit in the house by herself, worrying about her sister; Alexis could not bring herself to do that to her daughter.

A few minutes later, Patrick came out of the examination room; Alexis was oblivious to his presence; she was lost in her thoughts. Molly shook her to get her attention.

--- "Mommy."

--- "Huh?"

Molly pointed to Patrick who now knelt in front of Alexis.

--- "Dr. Patrick."

Alexis was fully alert.

--- "How are they?"

He sighed.

---"I'm not going to lie to you Alexis; neither of them are in good shape. Kristina took a hit in the stomach; the bullet has done significant internal damage. We need to repair that damage and get the bullet out. She runs a high risk of infection because the large intestine was struck, and fecal matter could infect her blood stream—"

Alexis crossed her arms and took in what he was saying to her.

--- "Okay… I want you to do whatever you need to do to save my daughter. What about Nikolas?"

---"He was hit in the back. Luckily the bullet did not touch his spinal cord, but unfortunately, it went right through his kidney, and is now lodged in his stomach—"

Alexis covered her face with her hand; this was a lot to take in. Patrick put his hand on her shoulder.

--- "We're going to do our best to save them both."

She knew that he was telling her the truth.

--- "I know, Patrick. You're too stubborn to ever let anyone die on your table."

He smiled at her; he knew she was alluding to the fact that Sam was still alive.

--- "Exactly."

Patrick handed her the consent forms; she signed them.

--- "It'll be about 4-5 hours. I'll keep you posted."

She nodded her head.

--- "Thank you."

**************************************

_He loved her immensely, but she could never know. She could never be told the truth, so he shied away from her. When she needed him the most, he was never there for her. He saw of what the woman he was married to was capable, so although he loved another, he could never leave the child with her; although if he took her, he knew that like her mother, her fate would be grim. So he stayed._

_In retribution, he made provisions for her and her future children. She was his, and despite what she might have thought, he was protecting her._

**************************************

Lucky arrived at the hospital morgue; he needed to see Elizabeth. His heart broke over the events of the day: he had just been told that his brother and his girlfriend's sister were in surgery fighting for their lives, and the mother of his sons was dead. He could not believe that people could be so hateful and cruel.

He gave Liz a kiss on the lips.

--- "I love you."

He walked out of the room, and collapsed into tears on the corridor floor.

**************************************

Mac arrived at the hospital an hour later; he had been at Kelly's evaluating the scene. He knew that this was an attack on Alexis' family, rather than the standard mob hit that troubled Port Charles.

--- "Alexis, honey, are you ok?"

She had been sitting with Molly in the waiting room. When she saw him, she ran into his arms. As she sobbed, she held him with one arm, while keeping the other arm around Molly who attached herself to her mother's side.

--- "I'm fine, but Krissy and Nik—"

He cut her off.

--- "Honey, I know. We're looking into everything. We're going to find these people, or this person, whoever it is and prosecute them for this."

Alexis nodded her head and wiped her tears. She picked Molly up and gave her daughter a hug.

--- "I don't know who's doing this, or why they're doing it, but I just want this to end."

He nodded sympathetically; he gave her a kiss on the cheek and wiped her tears.

Her phone began to ring.

--- "Hello?"

Sam practically screamed on the phone.

--- "MOM! WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?!"

Alexis looked at Mac worriedly; she prayed that he couldn't hear her daughter on the line.

--- "Um, hold on—Mac, I'm sorry, I have to take this."

Mac looked at her questioningly; he was not sure who exactly could have been calling her that would take precedence over everything that was going on at that moment. As he was about to question her, his own phone rang; he nodded and walked away to take the call.

Alexis held onto Molly, as she continued her phone call with Sam.

--- "Oh my God, honey we're at the hospital—"

--- "Mom, I'll be right there."

Alexis hissed harshly into the phone; she spoke in a lowered tone so that nobody would be able to hear her.

--- "You are not to come here, do you understand me?"

**************************************

Jason walked along the pier to the warehouse when he spotted a body on the ground; he ran over to it.

--- "Sonny?"

Just looking at his best friend, Jason knew that he was dead; there was a gunshot wound to his head. While he was not typically an emotional person, Jason felt as though he was punched in the gut; actually, he felt as though he himself had been shot in the head.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes; the unfallen tears burned him. He began to pace back and forth. He was angry… furious. Jason kicked and threw the crates on the pier as hard as he could. He could not believe that Sonny was dead.

--- "I swear to you, Sonny, I will personally kill whoever did this."

He looked at Sonny and noticed something in his pocket. Jason walked over and pulled it out; it was a short note: "We know."

**************************************

Alexis continued to hiss at her daughter on the phone. She refused to have Sam come to the hospital and run the risk of these people finding out that she was alive. She was terrified about losing her only nephew and her middle daughter, only to run the risk of losing her eldest one as well.

--- "Mom, I'm—"

--- "No! They're obviously here in Port Charles! What the hell do you think they'll do if they find out that you're alive?"

Sam was silent on the line.

--- "Well, Samantha?"

Molly tapped shook her mother's shoulder.

--- "Mommy?"

--- "Did you hear what I told you Samantha? You are NOT to come here!"

--- "Mommy!"

Alexis glared at her youngest daughter.

--- "Molly, you know that you're not supposed to interrupt me when I'm on the phone."

Molly nodded her head addressing the fact that she knew her mother hated it when she interrupted her when she was on the phone, but she

--- "But Mommy, Sammy's here."

Alexis followed her youngest daughter's finger to the direction she was pointing. Low and behold, she saw her daughter, dressed in a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. Her hair was in a ponytail covered by a baseball cap. She wore a pair of non-prescriptive glasses. She was supposed to be inconspicuously dressed; it could've worked with anyone else, but Alexis knew her daughter. She stormed over to her, grabbed her daughter by the arm before anyone else could notice her and pulled her into an empty examination room.

--- "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Sam had tears in her eyes; being already upset over whatever had happened, and mixed with her hormones, she was on the verge of a sob attack. Alexis immediately regretted yelling at her; she hugged her daughter.

--- "Honey, I'm sorry."

Sam cried for a few minutes before composing herself. She let out a big sigh. Alexis wiped her daughter's eyes.

--- "Hormones—"

--- "How'd you get here?"

Sam knew her mother would not like what she was about to tell her. She pulled out a set of keys from her back pocket; they were the truck's keys.

--- "How in the world, Samantha? That truck isn't good. I didn't think it could make it all the way down here!"

Sam had been hiding the fact that every time her mother and sisters went into Port Charles, she worked on the truck; that's what she had been hiding, not the fact that Lucky was coming to take her to the obstetrician.

--- "I've been fixing it whenever you were here."

Alexis wanted to scold her daughter, but she knew that it was a waste of breath. Sam was a grown woman who was going to do whatever she wanted.

--- "How did you find out about everything?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Why didn't you call me?"

Alexis pointed her finger.

--- "I asked you first—"

--- "Lucky called me and told me there was an emergency, but he didn't tell me what it was. I had a feeling that it had something to do with you—"

Alexis stopped her from speaking.

--- "Wait, you don't know what happened?"

Sam shook her head.

--- "I couldn't very well talk to anyone! They'd think this were Ghost or something—where's Krissy?"

It was Alexis' turn to get emotional. Sam was worried.

--- "Is she—"

--- "NO! Don't say that! She's not! She and Nikolas were shot."

Sam gasped.

--- "What?!"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "They're in surgery now; they've been there for the past two hours. Honey, I really wish that you hadn't come here. It's not safe! Someone had to have seen you."

Sam was upset at her mother for not calling her to tell her that her sister had been shot, and now even angrier that she expected her to have stayed at the farmhouse by herself while her sister and cousin were fighting for their lives.

--- "MOM! I don't give a sh!t if they know that I'm alive! It doesn't even matter anymore! Damn it! Whoever's coming after us doesn't care! They're coming either way! They're shooting at you! You could've been—Ahhh!"

Suddenly, Sam doubled over in pain.

**************************************

_The red head smiled sadly. She knew her sister was not going to handle this well, but Alexis was strong; she would be fine. Her family was supportive. Kristina opened her arms to greet the newest member of her family to cross over, "Welcome home."_

_

* * *

_

**Well, I'm pretty much on the cliff along with you all... I haven't decided who's gonna die just yet. I won't be updating for a few days.**

**UPDATE: I've left you all hanging on the cliff. I'm safely away from the cliff. :o)**


	27. Shock

_**I hope I didn't upset too many people by killing off Sonny and Liz. I warned you about the impending massacre… (SORRY CAROL!)**_

**GHPIFAN:** In answer to your questions,

1. I will not comment about Agent Raynor.

2. I'm trying to get the story finished before I get REALLY busy with school, so before Mid-October. However, if I'm not feeling inspired, it might end up not being finished until Christmas break, which basically means that there WILL be a period of a month and a half with no updates (maybe longer if I spend the holidays abroad). So to spare you all from that long wait, I'm scrambling to finish the story before that time... I'm aiming for 40 chapters, perhaps 45 depending on what's revealed.

**SamFanFirst: **YES, you all know the person(s) responsible for all this havoc to our Davis girls.

I want to make sure that I'm not divulging too much information before the end of the story, or if I'm giving too little, so answer me this:

_**What conclusions do you have about who's after our Davis girls? Are you totally stumped?**_

UNEDITED

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Shock**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

--- "That's it, we're done. Time of death, 18:54."

Patrick shook his head as he stared at his dead patient. His heart broke for Alexis and her family; they had been through so much in the past year. They did not deserve this.

This was not a ploy he, Robin, and Jason devised to protect the family; this was the real deal and he did not know how he was going to tell Alexis and her family. He walked out of the operation room feeling defeated.

**************************************

Lulu sat in the waiting room of the hospital in shock over everything that had transpired in the past few hours. Elizabeth, her nephews' mother, was dead, her brother was fighting for his life, and Lucky was ignoring her calls. She wanted to call her father, but of course, he was missing in action. The only person she had as family to support her was Tracey.

--- "That good for nothing father of yours should be here—"

Lulu wiped a few tears from her face.

--- "Well, we all know how he is. And as for good for nothing, you married him, so—"

Her cell phone began to ring; she didn't recognize the number.

--- "Hello?"

--- "Hey sweet thang."

Lulu puzzlingly looked at the phone; she was already upset over Elizabeth's death; she did not have the patience or the strength to deal with the skeevy bartender's flirtations.

--- "Um, Coleman? I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now."

--- "Sugarlips, this isn't a pleasure call. You might wanna get down to Jake's and help your brother; he's not looking too good."

Without saying goodbye, she hung up the phone, and ran out of the hospital, leaving Tracey confused.

**************************************

_It had been hours since he had come by to see her; that was not a good sign. As much as she grew to hate his presence, his being by to see her meant that he was not out hurting anyone else. She could not believe that she had allowed this to continue for as long as it did. This was her punishment; her hell._

_She prayed that if she managed to get out of that hospital bed, she would make things right._

**************************************

Sam doubled over in pain.

--- "Aaah! Mom?!"

Molly jumped up from her chair and ran to her sister.

--- "Sammy?"

Alexis ran to the door.

--- "Someone help! We need help in here!"

She ran back to Sam's side, and tried to keep her calm; she prayed that Sam was not losing her child.

--- "Honey, it's okay. Just try to relax."

Sam had tears in her eyes.

--- "I can't lose this baby, Mom!"

Alexis shook her head. She wanted to tell her daughter that everything would be fine, but she could not. The fact of the matter was that she knew that because of her daughter's fertility history, any pregnancy she had would run a high risk of miscarriage. Nonetheless, Alexis tried to be optimistic and transfer that optimism to Sam.

--- "It's okay, honey. You're a fighter, and so is this baby. Just keep fighting."

Sam tearfully looked at her mother and nodded her head.

--- "Molly, baby, just sit in the chair over there, okay? When the doctors come in, I don't want you to get hurt or in the way."

Molly, who had been trying to hold Sam's hand, nodded and sat in the corner, praying that everything would turn out alright. She did not understand why so much bad was occurring to her family; she tried to hold her tears in, but they rolled down her cheeks anyway.

Alexis noticed her daughter's tearful face; she gave her a sad smile.

--- "It's okay, baby."

Molly used her sleeve to wipe her face and nose.

--- "Okay, Mommy."

Epiphany ran into the room and saw Alexis holding Sam.

--- "Ms. McCall? What in the—"

Alexis cut her off; she knew that people would be shocked to see Sam

--- "I'll explain later, please just help her! She's pregnant!"

Epiphany quickly got over her shock and ran out to page Dr. Lee.

**************************************

Agent Raynor spoke on his phone; he was livid.

--- "How the hell did this happen?! This is unacceptable! I was nearly killed! What the hell are you people doing? You can't get anything right."

He slammed the phone shut. He pulled out the picture of his boys and stared at it for a few minutes.

**************************************

Lucky sat at Jake's staring at a glass of scotch. He did not know what to do. He felt so lost. Suddenly Lulu walked in and sat beside him, taking the glass of scotch away from him.

--- "You know better than this Lucky."

He looked down at the spot the glass had previously occupied.

--- "She's dead."

Lulu nodded her head, and blinked several times to keep the tears from flowing again.

--- "Yea, I know."

He pulled out a photo of Liz and their kids, along with one of he, Lulu, and Nikolas.

--- "Nik and Kristina were shot."

She rubbed her brother's back.

--- "Lucky, please come back to the hospital. I need you there. I'm sure that Alexis needs you there as well; her nephew, our brother, and her daughter are fighting for their lives. If you don't want to do it for me, do it for Sam. She'd want you to support her family."

Lucky shook his head and got off of the stool.

--- "No, I can't go back there. I have to go see Jake and Cameron."

Lulu stopped him.

--- "Lucky wait! I'm really sorry about all of this."

He nodded his head.

--- "Me too."

**************************************

Dr. Lee walked into the room to find Alexis helping Sam quickly change into a hospital gown Epiphany had given her. She was shocked.

--- "Um, it's nice to see you… alive… Sam."

The pain had subsided, but Sam was still terrified, and not in the mood for the redundancy of everyone's reactions to her earthly presence.

--- "Mom, can you have them close the curtain please? I don't want everyone knowing—"

Alexis nodded. Her daughter was terrified about losing her baby, while everyone was preoccupied with the fact that she was still alive. She moved to pull the curtain across the room, and to close the blinds on the window and doors.

--- "Kelly, we'll explain everything to you later. Just please check Sam out."

Kelly snapped out of her shock, so that she could treat her patient.

--- "Of course. If you'll just give us some privacy—"

Sam cut her off.

--- "NO! I need my Mom."

Alexis squeezed her daughter's hand and stared into her eyes.

--- "It's going to be okay, honey. This baby is a fighter."

Sam smiled at her Mom.

--- "I'm going to take your word for it."

Molly dragged her chair over to Sam. She knelt on it, and leaned in to give Sam a hug.

--- "Don't worry, Sammy; Mommy never lies."

Sam gave her sister a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Well, I guess you're right."

Kelly took in the scene; she still was in shock that Sam was still alive. She hoped that she did not miscarry, but considering the very law chance that she had had of ever becoming pregnant, it certainly was a high probability.

She put a sheet over Sam's legs and performed a pelvic exam. Everything looked normal.

--- 'Well, nothing is ruptured; that's a good sign. I'm going to need to do a sonogram. Sam, you can scoot yourself back up."

Sam smiled at Kelly.

--- "Thanks."

Kelly left the room to retrieve the sonogram machine, while Alexis helped her daughter readjust herself on the examination table; she tucked the sheet under the gown. She squeezed Sam's hand.

--- "See! Everything is going to be fine—"

Molly was confused by what was going on. She had not seen anything since Kelly had covered Sam up, but she knew that the doctor was in a location that no other doctor had ever before examined her.

--- "What was the doctor doing to Sam? That's a bad touch... like the bad man did to Sammy."

--- "No, baby, the bad man never touched me—"

Sam looked at her mother for some form of explanation. Considering the circumstances, Alexis remained calm.

--- "Honey, no, that's not a bad touch. You remember where babies come from right? How they leave Mommy's stomach and come out to the world?"

Molly nodded her head.

--- "Well, the doctor has to check to make sure that everything is okay with the baby, and that's one way to do so. Now, she's going to come back in a few moments with a machine that'll show us an image of Sam's baby inside of her, so that we can see if it's okay. Understand?"

Molly smiled.

--- "Will she wave at us?"

Sam pinched her sister's cheek.

--- "Sorry clone, she's too little to wave."

Alexis felt a tear roll down her cheek; she remembered how small Kristina had been when she was born. She prayed that everything was going fine in the surgery; in both Kristina and Nikolas' surgery. She prayed that her grandchild, her granddaughter, would healthily come into the world in six months. She prayed that all this drama in their lives would be over.

Sam reached over and wiped her mother's tear away.

--- "Aren't you the one that just said everything would be fine? Come on, Mom, no crying."

Alexis smiled at her daughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

--- "You're right."

Kelly rolled the machine into the room, and pulled Sam's gown up.

--- "Ok, let's see what's going on in here."

She passed the camera over Sam's stomach until she saw the baby. She turned the volume up on the machine so that she could listen for the heartbeat.

**************************************

Jason tried to call the farmhouse, but there was no response. He knew that if Sam had found out about the shootings, she would have found a way to get to her family; she had to be in Port Charles.

--- "Spinelli, I need you to get a GPS location of the farm's truck."

He hung up the phone, got out of his SUV, and walked up to the house. He rang the doorbell.

--- "Jason."

Carly was so happy to see him; he had been in and out of town so often for the past month, that she had seen him.

--- "Have you heard anything about Sonny—"

She saw the look on his face, and she knew. She beat his chest in grief.

--- "You're lying to me!"

Jax ran into the room after hearing Carly's screams.

--- "What's going on?"

Jason stared at him, as he held his best friend.

--- "Sonny's dead."

Jax took his wife into his arms.

--- "Darling, it's okay—"

She sobbed into his chest.

Jason's phone rang.

--- "Morgan."

A distorted voice spoke to him.

--- "So, I take it that you found your dear friend. Perhaps that will teach you from getting involved in something you had no business involving yourself with."

He stepped into the foyer.

--- "I swear to you, when I find you, I will kill you myself. I won't even shoot you in the head as you cowardly did to Sonny; I'll kill you with my bear hands."

The person laughed.

--- "We'll see about that."

The line went dead.

Jason walked back into the living room where he had left Jax and Carly.

--- "I have to go. I'll try to be back later."

Before Carly could stop him, he was out of the door.

**************************************

When Mac came back into the waiting room, Alexis was nowhere to be found. He had been gone longer than he had intended, but he was certain that both surgeries would still be underway. He walked up to the nurses' station.

--- "Nurse Johnston, do you know where DA Davis and Molly Lansing went."

Epiphany was still in shock over what she had previously seen. She gave Mac a perplexing look, wondering to herself if he had known about Sam.

--- "Yes, Commissioner Scorpio."

--- "Well? Where'd they go?"

She nervously began to shuffle patient files.

--- "Um, I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that."

He was getting agitated.

--- "Look, I'm the Commissioner of Police, and she's my girlfriend, I think that it's okay if you tell me where she is."

She shook her head.

--- "No, I really don't think that she wants anyone to know who she's with. If I tell you where she is, then you'll know who she's with."

--- "What the hell does that mean?"

This had been a shocking night for Epiphany, she had lost her best nurse, and she was fairly certain that she had seen a ghost; she could not take arguing with Mac Scorpio.

--- "Follow me."

**************************************

Lucky walked into Audrey's house. She was sitting in the living room cradling Jake, who had fallen asleep in her arms, while Cameron slept soundly on the couch. She stared at a picture of her granddaughter. When Lucky walked into the room, she looked at him and began to cry once more; she thought that she was all cried out, but seeing how defeated Lucky looked only caused the tears to once more well in her eyes.

--- "How could this happen?"

Lucky walked to her, and wrapped his arms around the woman he considered to be like a second grandmother to him, and around his sleeping son. He cried with her.

He would soon have to tell his boys that their mother was gone and never coming back to them.

**************************************

--- "There you go, the baby's heartbeats are strong."

Sam covered her face with her hands; this was one of the happiest moments of her life.

--- "She's fine? My baby's fine?"

Kelly smiled and nodded her head.

--- "Yes."

Alexis kissed her daughter, while Molly jumped up and down.

--- "So, what caused her cramps."

Kelly cleaned off Sam's stomach, and began to print out a picture of the baby.

--- "It happens sometimes when there's a lot of stress on a person.—I suppose that given the fact that everyone believes that you're dead, Sam, that must be some cause of stress on you? In addition, I know that Nikolas and Kristina are in surgery right now."

Sam nodded her head, then looked to her mother questioningly. Alexis looked back at her daughter; she knew that she was wondering if they should tell her that someone was trying to kill them. Molly spoke up.

--- "Someone's trying to kill us. They blew up Sam's apartment, and caused my arm to be broken. I had surgery because I was bleeding—"

Alexis interrupted her young daughter.

--- "That's enough, baby."

Kelly's mouth was hanging open, but not as much as Mac's. He stood beside the curtain utterly shocked at the sight of Sam lying on the examination table.

**************************************

_--- "Welcome home? I'm dead."_

_Kristina nodded her head._

_--- "This can't be right. It's too soon."_

_Kristina smiled sympathetically._

_--- "I understand what you're going through. I know that this might sound inappropriate, but I'm happy to see you again."_


	28. Overflow

Happy Birthday, SamFanFirst!

I wanted to get this update out to you all because I have a feeling that some were confused about the way the last chapter ended.

UNEDITED.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Overflow**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Patrick sighed and walked out of the locker room; he had to speak to Alexis. He walked down the long corridor to the waiting room.

**************************************

Lucky left Audrey's house and headed back to the hospital; he needed to find out about his brother and Kristina. His heart felt as though it had been stomped all over. It was not that he was in love with Elizabeth, the point of the matter was that she was his very first love, she was his first, she was once his wife, and she was the mother of his children; regardless of everything that had happened between them throughout the years, he still loved her because he could not not love the person who first had his heart.

He drove the long way to the hospital thinking about all of the events of the day. As the thoughts went through his head, his mouth began to water; he pulled the car over so that he could vomit. He lost his entire lunch in the wet grass. After wiping his mouth, he went back into to the car and just sat. He stared at the long boulevard and looked up at the starless sky. He sat and cried for a long time over the grief in his heart; he did not know what he was going to do.

**************************************

Alexis was shocked to see Mac standing in the examination room.

--- "Mac, what are you doing here?"

He looked at her.

--- "What am I doing here? What is SHE doing here? She's supposed to be dead, Alexis!"

Sam did not even know how to respond to everything; this was not the way that people were supposed to find out that she was still in land of the living.

--- "Um, I'm sorry, I know that this might seem really inappropriate considering your shock Mac, but would you mind stepping out for a second so I can get dressed? I'm not sure I'm comfortable lying like this with you or most of you people staring at me."

Alexis continued to stare at Mac, while Mac continued to stare at Sam.

--- "Sam's right; er, Mac let's step outside. –Sam, you're fine?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "I'm not in pain anymore; I'm alright, Mom. Thanks. [ahem] Mac, it was nice seeing you—"

Alexis glared at her daughter's chosen moment chance at being ironic.

--- "Samantha, not now."

Mac was dumbfounded. Alexis took him by the arm and walked out of the room with him and Kelly.

Molly stayed behind with her sister; she shook her head.

--- "Sammy, that was stupid."

Sam rolled her eyes at her sister.

--- "It's something you'll learn when you're older clone; it's called breaking the ice. Now, grab my clothes."

Molly handed her sister her things and sat back down in the chair; Sam noticed her sister's sad demeanor. She quickly dressed and knelt down in front of her.

--- "Baby, everything is going to be alright. "

Molly shook her head.

--- "How do you know that, Sammy?"

Sam lifted her sister up from the chair, and sat her down on her lap.

--- "Well, I know that regardless of anything that might happen, we're going to pull together as a family and get through it—"

Molly leaned into Sam, she almost whispered.

--- "What if Krissy dies?"

Sam felt a tear roll down her cheek.

--- "Well, we'll deal with that too."

Molly sat up and looked at her sister; tears were welling in her eyes.

--- "But you weren't there; you didn't see Mommy. She didn't talk to me, she didn't want to hold me, she didn't care about me when she thought you died, Sammy. I don't want her to do that again—"

Sam put her finger to Molly's lips.

--- "Baby, let me tell you something. Mommy will be fine. She knows how much she hurt you and Krissy in those few days when she thought that I was gone. If God forbid Krissy doesn't make it through this, Mommy will be strong. If anything, Mol, we'll be strong for her because sometimes you have to be strong for your Mommy because she's always strong for us. Right?"

Molly nodded her head.

Sam kissed her sister on the top of the head while secretly praying that what she just told her was the truth.

**************************************

Jason heard about Kristina and Nikolas getting shot. He walked into the hospital hoping to find Alexis; instead, he found Lulu and Tracey. Lulu walked up to him; she smacked him across the face.

--- "Your stupid mob bullsh!t caused her her life!"

He rubbed his face.

--- "What are you talking about?"

She looked at him incredulously.

--- "You don't know?"

He blankly stared at her.

--- "Know what?"

Lulu sighed.

--- "Elizabeth is dead."

Jason did not know what to think. He took the nearest chair, and threw it into the vending machine in the corridor.

He needed some air.

**************************************

Mac was about to speak, but Alexis cut him off.

--- "Kelly, do you mind if we use your office? This isn't something that everyone can know."

Kelly nodded her head and led the way to her office. Once they were in there, Alexis began her explanation of everything that her family had been through. Of course, Mac knew about most of it, but the Sam being alive part is what through him for a loop.

--- "Why couldn't you have told me—"

--- "What, so you could put us in witness protection? No, I couldn't do that to my kids, Mac!"

He shook his head.

--- "Well, look at how this plan worked out for you, Alexis! These people shot at you! Kristina and Nikolas are in surgery right now—"

Alexis' hand connected with Mac's face.

--- "Don't you dare try to blame this on me Mac!"

He rubbed his face; he regretted what he had just said to her.

--- "I'm not, Lex. I'm sorry."

--- "Do you really think that these people wouldn't have found us either way? We've been hidden. We haven't lived in Port Charles for the past month. Sam has not been out of the house really since we left here. The only reason why Kristina, Molly and I stuck around was because we didn't want it to be obvious that we were gone. If we left everyone would realize that we were gone; if the person or persons after us were here, they would've found a way to follow us.—"

--- "What if they aren't here."

She rolled her eyes.

--- "Don't be daft Mac. My car was run off the road, Sam's apartment exploded, Sam's car exploded, I was nearly killed on the launch. Oh, we mustn't forget the happenings to Kristina last year! She was kidnapped by a pedophile and RAPED Mac! Her sister was stabbed, her other sister kidnapped, I was stabbed, and Sonny was taken. You don't think these people are here? Come on! Regardless of what we did, no matter where we ran, they would've found us."

Mac took her in his arms.

--- "I'm sorry Lex. I'm so sorry."

Alexis began to cry as she felt a loss in her.

There was a knock on the door. Kelly walked in.

--- "I'm sorry Alexis, but Patrick asked that I have you go back to the exam room."

--- "Do you want me to go with you, Lex?"

She shook her head.

--- "No. I need to be with my girls."

She knew that she was not about to receive good news, and she knew whom the news was about. She wiped the tears that began to roll down her face, gave Mac a kiss on the lips, and walked out of the room.

**************************************

_He stomped all over his face. _

_--- "You are such a stupid son of a bitch! I can't believe this!? How could you let this happen?!"_

_The injured man had nothing else that he could possibly say; he did not know how everything could have gone so wrong. He swallowed a mouthful of blood which probably included a piece of a chipped tooth. While talking was painful, he needed to say his peace._

_--- "This can still be salvaged—"_

_The other man walked up to him and kicked him in the side; a crack was heard._

_--- "EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU RIGHT NOW?! I can't believe—"_

_He stormed out of the room. The rage in him caused tears to form in his eyes; he could not have anyone seeing them fall._

_The injured man tried to get up but he could not. There was no way that he could take himself to the hospital. He preferred that he could die in that spot where he lay. _

_He could not bring himself to continue with this plan; he loved her._

**************************************

She walked into the room to find Molly seated on Sam's lap. Sam looked at her mother and knew that something was up; her heart began to race.

--- "Mom—"

Alexis walked up to her daughter and gave her a kiss on the top of the head, and passed her hand over Molly's cheek.

--- "It's okay. [ahem] Everything will be okay."

Patrick walked into the room and sadly smiled at the family.

--- "Um—"

Alexis cut him off before he could speak; she did not want to hear any excuses or standard bereavement speak. She just wanted the news she knew she was about to hear.

--- "Patrick, which one?"

Sam looked up at her mother; the tears stung her eyes.

--- "Mom?"

Molly buried her face in Sam's chest; she knew that either her sister or her cousin was dead. Regardless of which, her little heart was broken.

Alexis put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. Her voice cracked.

--- "Samantha, it's okay. Patrick, which one?"

Molly's sobs grew louder as Sam remained shell-shocked; this must have been how her family reacted when they thought that she had died.

Patrick took a deep breath.

--- "Nikolas."

Sam gasped and sobbed; in a sad way, her tears were not only from grief, but also from relief that her sister had not died. She loved her cousin deeply and her heart was breaking over his loss, but her sister was a part of her that was irreplaceable. Her emotions were profoundly conflicted. She just held her little sister in her arms and cried along with her.

Alexis, on the other hand, nodded her head and accepted the news; she could not fully react until she knew about Kristina.

--- "How's Kristina?"

---"She just got out of surgery; they're taking her to recovery—"

Alexis cut him off again.

--- "Will she be alright?"

He nodded his head.

--- "We got the bullet out and repaired the damage. While the likelihood for infection is still high, she's a fighter, and we'll have her on high doses of antibiotics."

Alexis gave Sam's shoulder a squeeze.

--- "Patrick, he's gone gone, isn't he?"

He nodded his head again.

--- "I'm so sorry for your loss, Alexis."

He walked out of the room; he now needed to break the news to Nikolas' siblings.

She covered her face as the shock of what she had been told hit her. Her nephew, her beloved nephew was gone. Alexis felt as though her legs were giving out underneath her. She fell to the floor in tears.

--- "Oh my God, Nikolas! Why is this happening?! This is ridiculous! Why'd you have to die?"

Molly and Sam got up from the chair and joined their mother on the floor. They held and consoled each other in their grief; they cried until their tears ceased to flow.

**************************************

_Kristina and Nikolas hugged for a long time._

_--- "I can't believe that I'm dead—"_

_She nodded her head._

_--- "I know. It's a bit of an adjustment. I mean, people always say that you're at peace at death, and I obviously know that it's true, but they don't know the confusion of it all until this moment."_

_He paced back and forth._

_--- "What about my son?"_

_She stopped him._

_--- "Nik, I'm sure he'll be fine; he has some many people who will want to look out for him—"_

_--- "I'M SUPPOSED TO LOOK AFTER HIM KRISTINA! ME! He's little! He already lost his mother, and now he's lost his father!"_

_If there were anything to throw, he certainly would have; unfortunately all he could do was crouch down and cry for his young son's loss._

_Kristina knew that he would be angry; she felt the same way when she had died. As she greeted him, her mother had greeted her; instead of being happy to meet her mother for the first time, she was angry that she had to leave her sister, and miss out on helping her raise her niece._

_--- "I know that it's a lot to take Nikolas, but there's nothing that can be done about it. Spencer will be well taken care of; I'm sure about that. Alexis will watch him—"_

_He scoffed and wiped his tears._

_--- "Alexis and the girls have targets on their backs Kristina."_

_She sadly nodded; she prayed that she did not see her sister or any other of her nieces anytime soon. Although she missed Alexis and wanted to meet Kristina and Sam (she already briefly met Molly), she wanted them to live full lives._

_--- "Okay. Well, there's Lucky—"_

_He nodded his head._

_--- "Yea. He loves Spencer. I'm sorry, but I don't want to leave my son!"_

_She squeezed his hand._

_--- "I know you don't."_

_He thought about everything for a long while. He looked around and took in the indescribable scenery of his new home. He rubbed his face; his aunt was right, there was nothing more that he could do but accept everything and pray that his son would be well taken care of._

_--- "I'm sorry Kristina, I really am happy to see you."_

_She smiled at him and gave him a hug; she took his face in her hands._

_--- "As much as I'm sure you're happy to see me, dear nephew, I have a feeling that you'll be more happy to see someone else."_

_Kristina pointed to the most beautiful sight Nikolas had seen. _

_She was hugging her best friend, who too had tears to shed. She turned around and looked at him and smiled._

_--- "Emily."_

_She ran into his arms. He smothered her in kisses._

_--- "Oh my God. I've missed you so much."_

_He looked into her eyes, and kissed her passionately. He held onto her as though his life depended on it._


	29. Aftermath

God this class is boring…

_Oh, Demon, you have no idea how much I wanted to send Liz to the fiery depths…_

_I literally LMAOd Fred's review… _

UNEDITED.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Aftermath**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Lucky was further distraught over learning that not only was his sons' mother dead, but so was his brother. He held onto Lulu, who was inconsolable.

--- "It's okay, Lulu."

She pushed away from him.

--- "How can you possibly say that everything is okay, Lucky? Elizabeth was shot in the chest! Jake and Cameron are both motherless! Now, our brother is DEAD! Spencer already lost his mother! GOD, LUCKY! Nothing about this is okay!"

She ran down the hall.

Tracey patted Lucky on the back.

--- "Don't worry, I'll go talk to her."

He nodded his head and sat down. He took his phone out; he needed to speak to Sam.

**************************************

_After the events of the day, the person was more adamant to ensure that the demands were heard and followed._

_--- "I hope you took my warning seriously."_

_The person on the other line took a deep breath._

_--- "Yes."_

_--- "I take it we won't have anymore problems? I won't have to teach you another lesson, will I?"_

_--- "[ahem] N-no."_

_The person took a large gulp from the glass of scotch._

_--- "Well, here's what I want…."_

**************************************

Mac walked into the examination room to find Alexis, Sam, and Molly consoling one another. Not wanting to intrude upon them, he moved to leave, but Alexis noticed him enter the room; she kissed her daughters on the tops of their heads and walked over to him. He enveloped her in a warm embrace.

--- "Baby, I'm so sorry about Nikolas."

She nodded her head and pressed her face into his chest, and sobbed some more. He stroked her hair and back.

--- "It's okay, honey."

She looked up to him, held his face in her hands and connected her forehead to his; she closed her eyes as the tears continued to stream down her face.

--- "Thank you."

He wiped the tears from her face.

--- "We're going to get these people."

She looked him directly in the eyes.

--- "I hope you're right."

She let him hug her tightly as she pressed her face into his neck; she loved the way he smelled.

--- "Lex, I'm going to protect you."

She took a deep breath.

--- "I know you will."

She let go of him and walked over to her girls. Molly let go of her sister let her mother lift her up; she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and laid her head on her shoulder. Alexis was going to hold onto her baby girl, and continue to pick her up as long as she allowed her to; her daughter's innocence was a breath of fresh air at such a difficult time.

--- "I miss him, Mommy."

Alexis rubbed her daughter's back.

--- "I know you do, baby; I do too."

She looked at Sam.

--- "Honey, how are you doing?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Honestly, I don't know. I'm heartbroken that Nik's gone, Mom, but at the same time, I'm happy that Krissy is fine, alive, and safe."

Alexis passed her hand over her daughter's cheek.

--- "I know what you mean."

Mac cleared his throat.

--- "I want you all to stay at my house—"

Alexis cut him off.

--- "No."

He was shocked by her quick response.

--- "Why not?"

--- "I refuse to have anyone else die because someone is after my family. Tonight, Spencer lost his father, and two little boys lost their mother. I'm not risking Maxie lose her father; she already lost her sister."

Mac understood where she was coming from, but was certainly not in agreement with her decision.

--- "Alexis, I don't want you and your daughters to be alone—"

She shook her head.

--- "Mac, we're not staying with you."

He heard the finality in her voice; he decided to let his offer drop.

--- "So where are you going to stay?"

Alexis had not thought that far ahead; she just knew that she was not going to stay at anyone's house, and she certainly was not going to Wyndemere. She looked at Sam.

--- "Sonny's old penthouse?"

Alexis shook her head.

---We're not staying there. We'll figure something out. If anything, we can stay here with your sister tonight, and then figure something out tomorrow."

Mac walked over to Alexis and gave her a kiss on the side of the head.

--- "Wherever you go, I'll have officers protecting you. I don't want anything to happen to you… I love you Lex."

Despite her grief, Sam smiled and pinched her Mom's side; Alexis swatted her hand. She and Mac had been dating for the past two months; while this was not how she imagined him telling her that he loved her for the first time, she nonetheless appreciated hearing him say it. She leaned in and gave him a kiss.

--- "I love you too."

Molly looked at her mother with a look of disgust on her face.

--- "That's gross! I don't want cooties! Put my down!!!"

Alexis smiled at her daughter and gave her a kiss on the nose, before putting her down.

--- "You're such a goofball."

Molly went to her sister and wiped her nose on Sam's shirt; Sam pulled away.

--- "HEY! What are you doing?"

Molly continued to try and wipe her nose.

--- "She just gave me some of her cooties! I want them off!"

The adults began to laugh; it felt good having some relief from the air of gloom that had filled the room.

**************************************

Agent Raynor hung up the phone and cradled his glass. There was nothing that could be done; he was running out of options. He was down to the wire, and he could not even imagine how he was going to get everything done. He closed the file and put it back into the drawer. He got up and walked to the filing cabinet and pulled another file out. It read: Last Will and Testament.

**************************************

Jason having calmed down from the shock that the mother of his son had died, did not know how he was going to break the news to Alexis the father of her middle child was also dead. It was hard to swallow that Nikolas, Elizabeth, and Sonny were all gone; in one night several children lost their parents. The situation had gotten graver, as whoever was trying to kill them was clearly willing to take out anyone who got in his or her way.

He walked into the room, and Sam immediately ran into his arms. She was not sure why she had done it, but she needed to have a man's arms around him; she needed to have the arms of a man that she … loved… or once loved… or whatever… holding her. Because Lucky was nowhere to be found, an old and familiar warmth was certainly welcomed at such a hard time.

--- "I'm really sorry to hear about Nikolas."

She pulled away, slightly embarrassed for running into his arms.

--- "I'm sorry."

He shook his head.

--- "It's fine, Sam."

Alexis, who had been talking to Mac, stopped to watch the exchange; Jason noticed her staring at them and crossed his arms.

--- "Alexis, I'm sorry about Nikolas—"

She had known Jason for years, and was able to read him; she knew that something was going on that he was not saying.

--- "What's going on, Jason?"

He hesitated before speaking. She walked up to him; she knew that whatever he had to say was not going to be good news.

--- "Jason—"

--- "Sonny's dead."

She gasped; she had not expected that kind of news. She began to have an asthma attack. Sam ran to her mother.

--- "MOM! Oh my God… Where's your purse?"

Alexis gasped for air and Sam, Jason and Mac searched the room quickly. Sam noticed the purse on the floor near the examination table; she pulled the inhaler out.

--- "Here. Take a deep breath."

Alexis did as she was told and took in the medication. While she regained her ability to breathe, her heart continued to race; this was more news than she could handle.

--- "Sonny's dead? They killed him too?!"

She had not meant to scream as Molly had fallen asleep; she did not want her youngest daughter to be frightened, but the shock of it all astounded her. She thought about Kristina and how she had always wanted her father to be a part of her life, but because of the mob violence, it had not been feasible or prudent. Ironically, despite all of her trepidations about Sonny being in her daughter's life, it was not even the mob that caused his death; it was someone after her own family.

Sam wrapped her arms around her distraught mother.

--- "What happened, Jason?"

There was no sense in sugarcoating anything; he just blurted it out.

--- "They know that you're alive Sam; I think that this was a message."

Alexis' head felt like it was going to explode.

--- "Ok, um, what are we supposed to do now? This is not good—"

Jason sighed.

--- "No, it's not. But I promise you, Alexis, I will not let these people come hurt any of you, or anyone else for that matter."

Mac spoke up.

--- "And how are you going to do that Jason? There's enough violence in this town; we don't need you going vigilante—"

Jason was getting angry.

--- "And what exactly is the PCPD doing, Mac? Three people were killed today, and one person was hurt. Where was the PCPD? How'd these people get away? What about when Sam's apartment and car blew up? Or Alexis getting run off the road? What was the PCPD doing then? Do you have any leads?"

Mac got into Jason's face.

--- "We're doing what we can! But we definitely don't want to put Alexis and any innocent bystander in the line of fire!"

--- "Clearly whatever you're doing isn't enough! They're already in the line of fire! They've been in the line of fire since last year when that freak took Kristina and Molly and when he stabbed Alexis and Sam—"

--- 'The case wasn't in our jurisdiction at that time! And we were there when Jeff was taken into custody and when he was killed, and it was our officer who took Will out! We did what we could! Your way only leads to more people getting killed! I swear, do anything remotely illegal, Jason, and I'll throw you in lock up!"

Sam and Alexis looked at each other as the men were getting increasingly close to each other. Alexis cleared her throat.

--- "I need to see Kristina."

She walked out of the room before anyone could stop her. Sam stepped between the men.

--- "You two need to stop fighting; this isn't helping."

Jason's phone began to ring, so he left without another word.

**************************************

_She lied in her hospital bed staring out the window. She had to come up with a way to stop all this. It was not worth it. She wanted to die, but she knew that she could not. She needed to stop it all. She had to make it right._

**************************************

Lucky dialed Sam's cell phone; she picked up immediately, but there was a sadness to her voice.

--- "Hello?"

He loved her so much.

--- "Sam."

She began to cry on the phone.

--- "Lucky, where are you?"

He figured that she knew about Nikolas.

--- "I'm at GH—"

--- "I'm here too, come to the OB floor, I'm in room 608."

He hung up the phone and ran to her room; he made it there in no time.

He was relieved to see that she was dressed in regular clothes, rather than a hospital gown.

--- "What are you doing here? Is the baby okay?"

He put his hand on her small three month baby bump. She put her arms around him.

--- "I'm fine! I had a scare, but I'm fine! It's Nikolas!"

He kissed her on the top of the head.

--- "I know—"

Mac walked into the room with a cup of tea for Sam and a snack for Molly. He extended his hand out to Lucky.

--- "I'm so sorry about your brother and Elizabeth, Lucky. Take as much time as you need from work."

Lucky nodded his head.

--- "Thanks Mac. I need to figure out my role as a single dad now. I need to tell the boys about their Mom."

Lucky felt the tears threatening to fall but he managed to keep them at bay; he did not want his Commissioner to see him crying.

Mac knew how Lucky was feeling; when Georgie died, he hid his emotions from the other officers. Mac however, knew that Lucky must have been dying inside over having lost his brother and his first love; nobody should have to hide that pain.

--- "Just let it out, Lucky."

That's all he needed to hear; Sam walked over and held onto him as he cried for his brother and for the woman she spent so long hating.

**************************************

Alexis walked into the room and looked at her daughter; she looked as though she was sleeping. She kissed her on the forehead, and sat beside her.

--- "Oh sweetheart, I can't tell you how happy I am that you're safe, and that you're alive. I… I… love you so much. I don't know what I would've done if I—[ahem], if I lost you."

She had to stop speaking because she was getting emotional as she thought about her nephew; she would've loved to see him, but she could not bring herself to look at him lying on a cold slab in the morgue.

--- "Krissy, I need you to make a full recovery. You're a fighter, sweetie; you've always been a fighter. You're so often overlooked because you're the middle sister, the hormonal sister, but I know what kind of fighter you are. Only a fighter could have survived being born as early as you were. Only a fighter could have survived cancer, like you did. Sweetheart, you're a Davis girl, and a Cassidine. I know that I don't flaunt that title, but damn it, as crazy as they are, the Cassidine's are fighters. I need you to conjure that fit within you. I don't want you to give up; do you hear me? Mommy does not want you to give up."

She held onto her daughter's hand and gave it a kiss. She wanted her to wake up, but she dreaded having to tell her daughter about Sonny and Nikolas. For now, she just sat with Kristina praying that she would fight for the strength to survive.

**************************************

_--- "You're not our father!"_

_He knew that it would not be easy for him to accept._

_--- "Yes I am! I'm your father!"_

_He had been pleading with his son to give him a chance, but he wanted no part of him. The father he had known, albeit cold and distant, was the only father he wanted._

_--- "I had a father for 17 years. I'm a man now. I don't need you."_

_The man felt as though he had been punched in the gut. All he had ever wanted was to raise his sons, but she never allowed him the chance. Now that her husband was dead and he had the chance to know his sons, it was too late. _

_--- "I won't give up on you."_

_As he turned around to leave, everything went dark. His son, whom he had longed to know, smacked a heavy marble figurine into the side of his head._

_--- "You will have no part in my money."_

_He dragged his father's dead body out through the back of the house. He drove him into town, and dropped him in front of the Greek Orthodox Church where his parents were married._

_His body was discovered the next morning._

**************************************

**Are you all getting depressed? Shall I give you a light filler chapter? I think I will.**


	30. Heaven and Hell

**September 22, 2009**: _"Sleeping with one brother, engaged to the other; I guess that officially makes me a slut!_" YES! That was the BEST line from Elizabeth, EVER…

Um, Liv… Merry Christmas? I want you to kiss my feet for this…

Dee… WOW… I'm gonna take it from that comment that you were in need of some fluffiness?

Well, here it is! Between my $90 parking ticket, and the crapfest day I had, I definitely need humor and comedy. I hope I delivered!

Somewhat edited...

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty**

**Heaven and Hell**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Alexis, much to Molly's protests, decided that they would all stay at the hospital for the night, and would figure out where they would stay in the morning.

--- "Mommy, I don't WANT to STAY HERE!"

Alexis was fighting a headache from worrying about Kristina, who still had not woken up since the surgery, and from all the crying she did for Nikolas and Sonny; she was not in the mood to deal with Molly's oncoming tantrum. She pointed her finger at her daughter threateningly.

--- "Molly, you better not be throwing a tantrum; I'm not dealing with that right now! We're staying here tonight and that's final. Go sit down."

Molly stomped her foot on the floor before dropping onto the chair in the corner of the room.

--- "And I don't want any stupid hospital food either!"

Sam sat on the bed brushing Kristina's hair.

--- "She looks like sleeping beauty—"

Molly looked over at her sister.

--- "NO, she doesn't SAM! Sleeping Beauty is a BLONDE… and she was pretty! Kristina looks more like the wicked witch."

Molly crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

--- "If I'm the wicked witch, then that makes you the wart on my—"

Sam smiled and put her hand over Kristina's mouth.

--- "Welcome back Krissy! Shut up."

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "If you weren't already in that bed, sweetheart, you would be so sorry for that comment; but it looks like you're spared. I'm so happy to see you're awake."

Kristina smiled at her mother.

--- "Thanks Mommy, but I'm in a lot of pain."

Sam gave her sister a kiss on the cheek.

--- "I can resolve that pumpkin head."

She pressed the call button. In a few seconds, Epiphany walked into the room.

--- "Ah, so Sleeping Beauty is finally awake. Where's the prince?"

Molly rolled her eyes in the corner.

--- "She DOESN'T look like Sleeping Beauty! GOD doesn't anyone look at the pictures in the fairy tales?! So STUPID!"

Alexis was fed up with Molly's attitude. She moved from Kristina's side at the speed of light and snatched her tiny eight year old up from the chair and stood her in front of the nurse.

--- "Molly Davis, you apologize this instant."

The rarely insolent child crossed her arms in front of her and turned her head away from Epiphany and her mother. Sam and Kristina watched the impending royal rumble between their sister and mother.

--- "No."

--- "Molly, I'm not joking."

--- "Me neither."

Alexis forcefully grabbed Molly by the chin.

--- "ENOUGH! You will apologize to Nurse Johnston. And then you will sit in time out for eight minutes… AND… you'll eat food from the cafeteria."

It was Sam's turn to protest; but she did so in a manner that would not have her mother's wrath turned on her.

--- "Er, excuse me, um, MOMMY, but I believe that would be a punishment for me too, and I didn't do anything—"

Alexis glared at her daughter.

--- "Samantha, remind me again, how'd you get to Port Charles today?"

Sam looked down and sat back down beside Kristina.

--- "Oh… um, point taken. Carry on."

Alexis nodded her head. Kristina punched her sister in the arm.

--- "God, Sam, what did you do?"

Sam whispered to her sister.

--- "I kinda fixed the truck—"

Kristina began to laugh, but stopped because of the pain that ensued from the act. Epiphany walked over and adjusted the pain medication drip.

--- "Is that better?"

Kristina nodded her head and drifted back to sleep. Epiphany looked at her for a second, then to Sam, and finally to Molly.

--- "You've got yourself a handful, Ms. Davis. Hmmph. That little one not only looks like this big one, but she certainly is just like her."

Alexis stood crossing her arms having a staring match with Molly. While Molly was usually a very sweet child, she had a demonic nature. Alexis was amazed that at eight, she was already having fights with the child; these showdowns did not happen with Kristina until she was thirteen.

--- "I have a feeling that Sam was just like this as a child, and I can only pray that the child growing inside of her is like her grandma—"

Sam scoffed.

--- "Oh, you mean like Laura, Mom?"

Alexis broke eye contact with Molly to glare at Sam again; Molly was ecstatic, as she had never won before. She began to jump up and down, and ran over to Sam; she gave her a high five.

--- "YAY! I won! I beat her! I beat Mommy!"

Sam began to laugh at not only her little sister's victory, but at her mother's face. Alexis was not pleased; she pointed a finger at Sam, and pulled Molly back to her; the child was all smiles.

--- "Molly, this isn't a joke; Epiphany is still waiting for her apology."

Molly looked at her mother and noticed that beneath the anger and annoyance, there remained the sadness of the day; she decided that she was not going to add to it by continuing to act up.

--- "I'm sorry for being rude, Nurse Johnston. You're not stupid… but Sleeping Beauty is a blonde."

Alexis shook her head. For Molly, that was an apology; she took her fairy tales very seriously. Epiphany smiled at the child.

--- "Well, your apology is accepted, and I'm sorry that I mistook Sleeping Beauty for a brunette."

Molly smiled, moved to the chair, and turned it to face the corner. Before she sat down she looked at her mother.

--- "Mommy, tell me when."

Alexis looked at her watch; Molly liked to be put in time out on the exact minute.

--- "57…58…59… Now you may sit."

The petite child sat down and stared at the wall for her eight-minute sentence.

**************************************

They finished making love for the fifth time. He rolled off of her.

--- "Oh my God, I didn't think that this was… legal here."

She rolled to her side so she could face him; she drew circles on his chest.

--- "Well, this IS heaven, after all."

Nikolas smiled at her.

--- "But we're not married."

She waved her hand nonchalantly and smiled.

--- "Technicalities. If I didn't die, we would've been married. Take it up with the big guy."

He lied on top of her.

--- "God I missed you, Em."

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

--- "I missed you too, Nik."

He stared into her eyes; he had never thought that he would ever see her again.

--- "You know, I didn't think it was possible, but I think you got more beautiful. I just want to lie here and look at you forever."

She smiled at him.

--- "Well, now you can."

She got out of the bed and walked toward the bathroom.

--- "You coming?"

He jumped out of the bed a bit too fast, and fell over in excitement. Emily grabbed her robe and pulled it on before going over to him. She shook her head and began to laugh.

--- "Are you okay?"

He picked himself up.

--- "That wasn't the response I was looking for, Em. I could've been ki—"

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss.

--- "You could've been what, now?"

He kissed her again.

--- "I could've been killed."

He pulled her robe open and moved her to the bed. She bit her lip.

--- "Hmm… well, punish me for not caring enough."

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Nikolas groaned.

--- "That's God punishing me."

She moved to kiss Nikolas, but grabbed the belt for her robe; she pushed him off of her. She smiled at his disappointed face.

--- "I'll get it!"

He pulled her back to him and kissed her passionately.

--- "Now you may go."

He smacked her on the bottom. She smiled sensually at him.

--- "Wow, someone's gotten frisky."

Nikolas sat on the bed and watched her as she left the room. He looked around the room; it amazed him that he was in heaven. He was in heaven, in the metaphorical sense, because he was with the love of his life; but he was there in the proverbial sense as well!

This was not what he thought it would look like; it looked like a regular city, except clean. Everyone had their own homes, or they lived with the family they had been reunited with; Nikolas was lying in his bed in his own home that fit his exact taste and style.

Emily walked back into the room.

--- "There's someone in the living room who's here to meet you."

Nikolas looked at her wondering who it could possibly be, but she said nothing; she smiled and handed him his pants. He put them on.

--- "Alright. Let's go meet this mystery person."

Emily took him by the hand and led him out.

Kristina was sitting on the couch and chatting with a teenager. When she noticed Nikolas and Emily enter the room, she and the teen stood up.

--- "Hey Nik, I see you've already situated and reacquainted yourself with Emily."

Emily smiled and slightly blushed.

Nikolas ignored her comment and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

--- "So, who's your friend?"

She wrapped her arm around the girl.

--- "This is my niece, your cousin, Lila."

He looked at the young girl curiously.

--- "Lila? As in Sam's Lila?"

The little girl smiled at her cousin; she had large dimples on both cheeks.

--- "Hey."

Nikolas gave her a loving hug.

--- "Oh my God, it's so nice to see you. Let me look at you!"

He looked her up and down. He was incredibly happy to meet Sam's daughter; he knew how much his cousin missed the child, and how much she would have loved raising her.

--- "You're taller than I would've imagined. How old are you?"

Lila laughed.

--- "So I've heard. I'm thirteen."

--- "You're seriously taller than your mother! Wow. There's hope for you yet!

She continued to laugh.

--- "Is she a little person or something?! I mean, I met her last year, but I was an age she was most comfortable with, so she was definitely taller than me. Uncle Danny laughs all the time about how short she is."

Nikolas shook his head.

--- "Your Mom is pretty tiny, and your two aunts are no better; you definitely got your grandmother Alexis' height. I mean Kristina's slightly shorter than Sam, but we've lost any hope that she'll grow much more. And Molly—"

Lila interrupted him.

--- "I met her. She looks just like my Mom… so they say. She's so cute, but she's the size of a five year old—"

Nikolas laughed.

--- "Don't let that child fool you; she's a spitfire… just like your Mom."

He stared at her.

--- "God, you look so much like Alexis—"

--- "I know. She must be exceptionally pretty."

Kristina jumped into the conversation.

--- "Ah, my niece is so humble and gracious."

Lila feigned shock at her aunt's sarcasm.

--- "What Aunty Kris? Is it wrong to believe that Grandma's pretty?"

Kristina playfully tapped Lila's face.

--- "Other than being a complete goof, she's as intelligent as her grandmother, too. She's the head of her class."

He shockingly looked at Kristina.

--- "There's school here too?"

Lila rolled her eyes.

--- "Unfortunately."

Emily rubbed Nikolas' arms and rested her chin on his shoulder.

--- "This child is one of my chemistry students; I think she's out to get my job."

Lila smiled at her cousin.

--- "Well, I don't know about all that, but Ms. Quartermaine-Cassidine makes it interesting."

He looked at Emily.

--- "Quartermain-Cassidine? That's a mouthful."

--- "Well, I had to make it official! I missed my family, and Grandmother suggested that I keep the name. Then, I figured that I wanted to be connected to you forever and you would recognize me when we met again—"

Nikolas lovingly stared at her.

--- "As though I could ever forget you."

Lila rolled her eyes again. Nikolas caught the action from the corner of his eye; he pointed at her.

--- "Ah, you're a Davis girl, alright; you've got the rolling of the eyes down."

Kristina nodded her head, and kissed Lila on the side of the head, and wrapped her arms around her.

--- "I told you, lima bean. I swear, this kid does it all day long. It's unnerving how often she does it."

Lila was about to roll her eyes again, but stopped herself when she saw her aunt, cousin and teacher looking at her. She smirked and crossed her arms across her chest instead.

Nikolas, Kristina, and Emily pointed at her.

--- "ALEXIS!"

Lila threw her hands up in the air and put her hands on her hips.

--- "SAM!"

--- "No… no… that's Kristina!"

Lila pouted and sat down on the couch.

Nikolas laughed; Kristina and Emily waited for Nikolas to tell them which Davis girl did that action.

--- "And that would be Molly."

Emily wrapped her arms around Nikolas.

--- "Yup, she's a Davis girl."

Kristina went to her niece and gave her a kiss on the nose. Emily and Nikolas pointed to her.

--- "ALEXIS!"

Kristina stood up and put her hands on her hips; she rolled her eyes. Lila looked at her aunt.

--- "Um… Molly, Kristina, and Mom?"

Kristina pointed her finger at her niece.

--- "Shut up you."

Lila laughed and turned to Nikolas and Emily. They looked at each other and then back to the girl.

--- "Alexis… definitely."

Kristina grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at the reunited couple.

**************************************

Alexis, Sam and Molly decided that while Kristina was asleep, they would eat dinner.

--- "What do you two want to eat?"

Molly crossed her arms and leaned into Sam.

--- "A burger from the MetroCourt."

Alexis shook her head at her daughter.

--- "No. We're eating here."

Sam crossed her arms as they entered the elevator.

--- "Um, what exactly is this hospital offering other than dog and cat meat—"

Molly stomped her foot and looked at her mother in disgust.

--- "IIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLL!!! I'm not eating that!"

Alexis pulled Sam to her.

--- "I really need you to stop; you know that your sister follows your lead—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Fine I'm sorry, but Mom, this is ridiculous! We could've just ordered something to eat."

Alexis would have ordered out, but seeing as Molly was being a brat, and Sam was encouraging her sister's poor behavior, she had to teach her girls a lesson in gratitude.

--- "I'm not rewarding Molly and your bad behavior."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Um, I'm an adult, Mom; the only reason I'm not ordering a decent meal is because my wallet and keys have magically disappeared. I would've swiped yours from your purse, but low and behold, they're gone too."

Alexis shook her head as they stepped off of the elevator and walked into the cafeteria.

--- "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alexis had taken Sam's keys and wallet, and hid her own, because she knew her daughter would try to make some kind of escape and track down the person or person's who caused Nikolas' death and Kristina's injury; Alexis was not going to run the risk of entertaining her daughter's adrenaline rushes.

--- "Yea, I'm sure you don't."

Alexis wrapped her arm around her daughter, and placed a hand on top of Molly's head.

--- "Samantha, if we've got to suffer through this, so do you."

Sam shook her head.

--- "You know you don't make any sense—"

Alexis looked Sam directly in the eyes.

--- "Well, a lot of things don't make much sense, but that doesn't stop them from happening."

Sam knew her mother was alluding to everything that had happened to the family, but she was starving and could not eat the garbage that the hospital masqueraded as a meal.

--- "Mom, I know that, but you know that if you would just stop being controlling and crazy, we could have an edible dinner, right?"

Alexis put her hand up; she did not want to continue to have this argument.

--- "Sam, we're eating here. Since you've already pointed out that your wallet disappeared, you have two options in the matter: 1) Starve or 2) Be quiet and eat this crap."

Molly stared at her mother.

--- "Are you putting yourself in time out?"

Alexis was confused.

--- "What?"

Sam smiled.

--- "Um, I believe the offensive word C.R.A.P. merits about, say, 60 minutes facing the corner? It's a minute per age, right?"

Alexis rolled her eyes at both of her daughters.

--- "Samantha, if I'm 60, that certainly makes you 44, doesn't it?"

Sam tried to think of I comeback, but she wasn't fast enough.

Alexis smirked.

--- "Yea, that's what I thought… And Molly, I'm the Mom, I don't go in time out… EVER."

Molly rolled her eyes back at her mother.

--- "That's not fair."

Alexis pinched her daughter's cheek.

--- "Life isn't fair, baby.—Now, what do you girls want to eat? Either choose something, or I'm choosing for you."

Sam sat down at an empty table and crossed her arms.

--- "I'm not hungry."

Molly mimicked her sister's actions.

--- "Me neither."

Alexis let out a deep sigh; she grabbed both of her daughters.

--- "Molly, you're eating. And Sam, you're right, you're an adult; so I can't force you to eat. However, you're pregnant with my granddaughter. Now, I don't care what I have to do to get food inside of you, but that child is going to get nourishment from something, and that something is coming from this hospital cafeteria."

Sam and Molly knew that there was no point in arguing with their mother on the matter. Alexis did not discriminate among any of her children; she bossed them around regardless of their ages.

--- "Fine, I'll take a burger with mystery meat for $200, Alex."

Molly crossed her arms.

--- "Daily Double."

**************************************

_**You might get a new chapter tomorrow, but it really depends on inspiration, my sobriety (Happy Hour every Thursday), and if I feel like it after watching Grey's Anatomy!! Oh yea, and if you all REVIEW. I'm not feeling the love… :0(**_


	31. Shots EDITED AS SECTION WAS MISSING

Corrections have been made and a whole new section, which I neglected to put in last night, was added. SORRY!

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

**Shots**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_The newspaper article read:_

"_Mr. Stefanos Karides, local business owner, husband of Ms. Layna Alexander, was found dead this morning. Currently, the details of his death are not being revealed, but his death is not being ruled a homicide."_

_No further details were written in the article. __**While it was evident that he had been murdered, **__no further investigation was to be done._

**************************************

The next morning, Alexis, Sam, and Molly, much to Alexis' dismay, agreed to temporarily move into Sonny's former penthouse, under the condition that the lake house be quickly renovated so that they could move back in. Although Jason was against them moving back there, Alexis was adamant to be in her home.

--- "How about you all just stay here until we get everything resolved?"

She shook her head.

--- "I'm not staying in this building; it's a mob war waiting to happen—"

Jason sighed.

--- "It's not a mobster building—"

Sam, on the other hand, knew that it would be safer for her family to remain there, and hoped that her mother would reconsider.

--- "Mom, there's never been an attack on this building, but we were nearly killed at home. Come on—"

She put her hand up to interrupt her daughter from speaking.

--- "Sam, we're not living in this building, we're not living at the farm, we're not running out of town. I just want us to be back in our home. This family's been through enough crap that I think it would be for the best that we live someplace that's comfortable and where no other innocent person will be killed because someone's after us."

Jason stared at her in disbelief.

--- "So you'd rather be in seclusion and in more danger?"

She covered her face with her hands.

--- "No, Jason. No matter where we go, this person isn't going to stop coming after us. They want something, our heads on a plate, whatever, and I'm not going to be responsible for another child losing a parent."

Sam took her mother's hand into her own.

--- "Mom, none of that is our fault! How were we supposed to know that any of that was going to happen—"

--- "SAM! In one night, ONE NIGHT, SIX kids lost their parents. Count them, honey: Spencer, Cameron, Jake, Michael, Morgan, and finally your sister, Kristina. And might I add that in the process she was shot! We could've lost her too! These people don't care who they hurt to get to us, and I'll be damned if someone else gets hurt or killed because of this. We're the targets, nobody else."

Sam understood her mother's sentiments. While no one wanted these people to come after them, it would be better that the person took their anger and resentment out on their family alone, rather than viciously killed people not involved in this situation.

Sam looked at Jason and nodded her head; he sighed.

--- "Fine Alexis. I'll have the lake house secured for you."

--- "Thank you."

--- "Sure."

As he moved to leave, she stopped him.

--- "Don't think that I'm leaving this open-ended so you can keep us here for months; I want out of this place in a week."

Jason stared at her for a few seconds and walked out. He needed to call for the installation of bulletproof windows and doors throughout the lake house. He wanted cameras to surround the grounds, and armed guards to be stationed at every and any entrance and exit.

Sam moved toward the door.

--- "Samantha, where are you going?"

--- "To talk to Jason."

Alexis did not like the closeness forming between her daughter and Jason again; it seemed as though during this time while she was pregnant with Lucky's baby, she was moving away from him and gravitating toward Jason.

--- "Honey, what's going on between you two?"

Sam turned around and stared at her mother.

--- "What are you talking about, Mom?"

Alexis crossed her arms and stared at her daughter.

--- "Samantha, you know what I mean. Is there's something going on between you again?"

Sam was shocked by her mother's accusations.

--- "NO! Mom, I love Lucky; my goodness, I'm pregnant with his baby!"

Alexis worried constantly about her daughters; with the danger presently in their lives, she hoped that Sam did not add fuel to the fire by dating Jason. In her mind, it seemed inevitable that now that Sonny was dead, Jason was taking over the business; she did not want her daughter or grandchild remotely involved in that type of life.

--- "Honey, please… just remember that."

Sam nodded assuredly.

--- "I will Mom… I will."

She walked out of the room and went across the hall to Jason's apartment. He opened the door immediately after she knocked on the door.

--- "Hey."

--- "Hey, yourself."

He smiled at her.

--- "What's up? Did your mother make any other requests?"

Sam laughed.

--- "No. Look, I just wanted to thank you for everything that you're doing for us. I know that it must not be easy for you right now since Sonny and Elizabeth—"

--- "It's not. But, there's nothing I can do for either of them anymore. I don't want your family or anyone else in this town to get hurt."

--- "Nonetheless, thanks for all of your help; I, um… I really appreciate it."

He put his hands in his pockets uncomfortably; he wanted nothing more than to, in that moment, pull her to him.

--- "You're welcome."

She nodded her head and walked out of the apartment; her heart fluttered.

**************************************

_He did not want to take part in this evil plan, but he was not given much of a choice. He did what he could to protect her, but there was only so much that he could do. Every step of the way, he was there to avert harm to the family. While he was successful at many turns, he failed at others._

_When Jeff was making his way to Port Charles with the specific intent of coming after the already wild Kristina, he helped Eric become Kevin so that he could both avenge his sister's death, and protect the child; it was by way of Providence that when Kevin died, Will unknowingly continued the plan. When Alexis and her two youngest daughters were nearly run off the road, it was he who called the ambulance to rescue them; he was also the one who made sure to delay the bomb from going off at Sam's apartment until she was away. _

_Unfortunately, when it was suspected that he was the one ruining the plans, he was no longer included in their planning. He could therefore do nothing to stop the launch from sinking, or the shooting at Kelly's; once again, it was sheer luck that Sam had not been in the car when it exploded outside of the lake house. It seemed as though a higher power was protecting the family from a cruel death._

_But despite it all, the shooting at Kelly's was his greatest failure of all. His heart broke into millions of pieces._

**************************************

Being the executrix of his will, Alexis knew what her nephew had devised; in the event of his untimely death, she was to become Spencer's guardian. Given the current situation, she could not in good conscience bring the child into her home; she decided that for the moment, and despite his own problems, she would hand Spencer to his uncle, Lucky.

While she sat with Kristina, the nanny, who looked as though she had been crying for hours, per Alexis' request, brought the child, to the hospital. Alexis kissed Kristina on the forehead, before stepping out.

--- "Good night, sweetheart. I love you."

She left the guard outside of her daughter's door with specific instruction not to leave her daughter unattended and to only allow the approved doctors and nurses in to monitor and treat her. She then took Spencer by the hand and led him to the couches in the waiting area.

--- "Spence, I have something very sad to tell you."

He was a very shy and polite six year old.

--- "Yes, Aunt Alexis?"

She cleared her throat.

--- "Nikolas spoke to you about your Mommy, right?"

He nodded his head.

--- "Ok, can you tell me where she is?"

--- "She died, she's gone to heaven."

Alexis wiped her eyes.

--- "Okay, well, last night there was an accident—"

Spencer noticed that his aunt was crying.

--- "Where's father?"

As modernized as her nephew was, she could never get over the fact that he allowed Spencer to call him 'father;' the term was cold and so unlike the way Nikolas was with his son.

--- "Well, your daddy went to heaven too."

The child nodded his head; he did not know how to take the news. He knew that it meant that he would never see his father again, but he was quite young and unable to fully understand the gravity of the situation.

--- "Who's going to take care of me now?"

Alexis wiped her nose; she looked at her nephew.

--- "Well, I think that it would be best for you to stay with Uncle Lucky."

Lucky had just arrived, and was standing in the corner watching Alexis break the news to his nephew. The child was incredibly strong; he did not cry. He simply got up from his spot, thanked his Aunt, as though he were in some form of a business deal, for telling him about his father, and walked over to Lucky.

--- "Aunt Alexis says that I'm staying with you from now on."

Had everything not transpired the way that it had, Lucky would not have minded taking care of the child, but now he could not look Spencer in the eye; all he saw was his brother.

He looked away.

--- "Yea, you are."

Lucky took Spencer by the hand and walked out of the hospital.

As she watched them leave, Alexis broke into tears because she loved that child deeply, and missed his father even more. While she sat there crying, someone handed her a packet of tissues.

--- "I figured you might need these."

She looked up and saw that it was Agent Raynor.

--- "You always seem to show up at the most prudent times, Tom."

He smiled at her.

--- "Well, that's what being an agent is about, I guess."

She shrugged her shoulders.

--- "I guess you're right. Thanks for the tissues. I think at this rate, I'm going to take the Kleenex stock to new levels."

He put his hand on her knee.

--- "I'm really sorry about all of this, Alexis; I mean, this is incredibly bad fortune."

--- "I think that's a bit of an understatement, don't you think?"

--- "Yea, I guess you're right. How are your daughters taking the news?"

She wiped her tears.

--- "As well as can be expected—"

--- "How's Sam?"

She was shocked that he knew that she was alive already; she believed that only the hospital staff and administration knew. She figured that he must have found out about it through the very short Port Charles grapevine.

--- "She's fine; we're all taking this pretty hard; I haven't even told Kristina about anything yet."

He stared at her for a few minutes; even in tears he found her beauty enchanting. While he wanted terribly to ask her out on a date, he knew that it was terribly improper considering the situation and the fact that she was dating Mac. He told himself to avert becoming attached to her; he needed to keep his eye on the prize.

His phone began to ring.

--- "I'm really sorry, but I have to take this. I'll be in touch Alexis."

She nodded and watched him leave; she got a strange vibe from him.

**************************************

_--- "Move your foot damn it!"_

_She was screaming at no one, but herself. She willed herself to move from the bed._

_--- "Come on! Move your foot!"_

_She practiced this exercise every night. _

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_After weeks of practice, she began to move her foot; then she began to move the other. Soon enough she was able to move in and out of the bed._

_No one knew._

**************************************

**Sam had Max drive her to Lucky's place while her mother and little sister remained at the hospital with Kristina; she wanted to see how he was doing, and to also see her little cousin.**

**--- "Hey Lucky."**

**He let her into the house quickly; he did not want anyone seeing that she was there.**

**--- "What are you doing here Sam? These people could be watching you!?"**

**--- "I know, but we were really careful, so I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. Look, I just wanted to see how you were doing."**

**Lucky pulled her into a passionate kiss.**

**--- "I miss you."**

**She put her hands on either side of his face. She looked deeply into his eyes; she could see that sadness and despair in them.**

**--- "I miss you, too. I can't wait for all of this to be done and over with. I don't want to bring this child into the world if my family has target signs all over our backs; it wouldn't be fair."**

**--- "I don't think you'll have much of a choice in the matter, Sam—"**

**She shook her head and smiled.**

**--- "I'm pretty sure that my mother wouldn't have much of a problem figuring out some way to keep her inside of me."**

**He looked her surprisingly.**

**--- "Her?"**

**She bit her lip and nodded.**

**--- "Well, we don't know for SURE she's a girl, but we definitely have a feeling that it is."**

**He lifted her up and swung her around.**

**--- "That's wonderful! I hope you're right! What should we name her?"**

**She smiled at him.**

**--- "Well, I was actually thinking of Danielle Nicole McCall-Spencer, after both of our brothers."**

**The sadness returned to his eyes; he moved away from her and sat on the couch.**

**--- "I'm sorry; this is just a lot to take in. I'm still trying to understand the fact that not only is Elizabeth dead, but so is my brother. Yesterday afternoon, I had two kids, and I split custody with their mother; today I have three kids, full time, and one on the way."**

**Sam walked to him and sat on the arm of the chair.**

**--- "What are you saying? Do you not want this baby?"**

**He grabbed her hands.**

**--- "What? No!? Never? Oh my goodness, Sam! I want this baby more than anything in the world. I want to raise her. I want you as my wife. I'm just overwhelmed right now. It's just there's so much to do, and my brain feels like its on overload. Ugh, I have to go get two funeral arrangements together—"**

**She smiled sadly at him.**

**--- "Yea, I'm really sorry about that; my Mom thinks that it would be best if we weren't in attendance at Nik's—"**

**He was shocked.**

**--- "Why?!"**

**--- "She thinks, and I agree with her, that it would be better that the targets aren't at his funeral. Instead, we're going to have a private memorial amongst ourselves when Krissy gets out of the hospital. We just don't want there to be any chance that anybody else gets hurt—"**

**--- "I get it. That's fine."**

**She got up to leave.**

**--- "Um, before I go, can I see Spencer?"**

**--- "Yea, sure; hold on."**

**He ran up the stairs; a few minutes later he came down with Spencer following behind him. The little boy ran into Sam's arms.**

**--- "SAM!"**

**Sam held him in her arms. She sat down on the steps with him.**

**--- "Hey little buddy! How are you doing?"**

**He leaned his little head onto her shoulder.**

**--- "I'm sad. Father went to heaven to be with Mother and Emily."**

**Sam smiled to herself at the thought of Nikolas in heaven with not only Courtney and Emily, but from what she heard from her mother, he had also been seeing Elizabeth at the end; there was a major cat fight about to ensue up there. She prayed that Port Charles did not suffer from a blizzard or hurricane, or earthquake, or anything of that matter because of it. If not a fight, then there was some major lovemaking that would more than likely make the angels blush. Either way, Sam did not want to imagine the goings on up there.**

**--- "Yea, he did, but you know what?"**

**--- "What?"**

**--- "He loved you so so sooo much! You know that right?"**

**He nodded his head.**

**--- "Good. Now, I want you to make sure to be a brave and good boy for Uncle Lucky, okay?"**

**She moved to stand up, but he pulled her back to him. He gave her a hug; she held onto her little cousin.**

**--- "I miss him, Sammy."**

**She gave him a kiss and squeezed him tight.**

**--- "I know you do, buddy; so do I. But you know what? We're going to always remember him, okay? We'll always think about him, and we have so many pictures of him to look at, right?"**

**He nodded his head again.**

**--- "Okay, I have to go now, Spence. I love you."**

**--- "I love you too, Sammy."**

**He ran back up the steps to go play with his other cousins. Sam turned to look at Lucky who was staring at a picture of he, Elizabeth, Lucky, and Nikolas.**

**--- "I'm the only one left in this picture—"**

**She went back to hug him.**

**--- "It'll be okay, Lucky."**

**They held onto each other for a few moments before Sam turned to leave; he called out after her, but not without turning his head from the picture.**

**--- "I love you."**

**--- "I love you, too."**

**She was not entirely sure if he was really speaking to her, or to the dead people in the photograph. She walked out of the house and into the awaiting car.**

******************************************

_**She was dead. Her sister was her best friend, and now she was dead. Her brothers were dead, not that she really cared for one, but she loved the other, even after he turned into a brute. She was alone, except for the little life growing inside of her, and her dear nephew.**_

_**She looked over her sister's paperwork; she had left everything she owned and held dear to her.**_

**************************************

Diane herself was quite saddened by Sonny's passing, not merely because of his death's effect on his children, but also on how his death now affected her wallet; she just lost a very large and profitable retainer. As disheartened as she was by it all, she was more concerned with her best friend; only three months prior she lost her daughter, then in one tragic night, she lost her nephew and the father of her middle child. Diane stopped by the penthouse to express her condolences to her best friend and to bring her a couple of bottles of the finest wine and one bottle of tequila.

When Alexis opened the penthouse door, she was shocked to see Diane standing there looking cheerful.

--- "Diane, what are you doing here? How did you even know that I was here?"

She pushed her best friend out of her way and walked into the penthouse. She looked around at her former clients previous home; it was a pretty nice place.

--- "Honey, when I heard that poor Nikolas died last night, and that Sonny was found dead, I demanded that Jason tell me where he stashed you! I'm so sorry. First you lose Sam, then all of this… anyway, I come bearing gifts of liquid therapy."

Alexis was shocked that she had not heard that Sam was alive; she needed to let her know immediately.

--- "Thank you. There's so much I need to tell you—"

Diane grabbed a couple of wine glasses, along with two shot glasses, and set them down on the coffee table.

--- "You don't have to tell me anything. I just want you to first have a drink because God knows you need it."

It was true, after everything, Alexis was in dire need of a stiff drink.

--- "Yea, you have no idea, but I still need to tell you something—"

Diane pulled the bottles of wine and tequila from the bag, and a container of salt from her purse. Alexis laughed.

--- "Why in the world did you have salt in your purse?"

Diane rolled her eyes and pulled out her flask.

--- "Excuse me, but I need it!"

Alexis laughed.

--- "I think I need to schedule an intervention for you; this is a problem."

Diane put her hands on her hips.

--- "I can very easily pour these down the sink—excuse me, but I don't waste; I can VERY EASILY take these lovely bottles out of here to someone who would appreciate them."

Alexis pulled her down onto the couch and started opening up the bottle of tequila.

--- "I'm sorry; I'm really grateful to you for this."

Diane smiled at her.

--- "Well that's much better. Do you have any lime? Never mind, you wouldn't know what was in your own kitchen, why would I expect you to know what was in this one; I'll be right back."

She got up and walked out of the room.

No sooner had she left that Sam was walking back into the apartment after spending some time with Lucky. She smiled at the amount of bottles on the coffee table.

--- "Lushing it up, Mom? OOOH! And you've got tequila! Man, if I weren't pregnant, I certainly would be enjoying that bad boy."

Alexis got up to greet her daughter; she could tell that Sam was trying to hide the fact that she was upset.

--- "Honey, I'm not drinking alone. What's the matter?"

Sam removed her coat and moved to sit on the couch.

--- "It's Lucky, he's just really upset about Elizabeth. I don't know, I mean, I hated her for so long, but now that she's gone, I can't help but feel so bad for her kids."

Alexis nodded her head in agreement; she still could not feel responsible everything. Sam saw the look in her mother's eyes.

--- "Mom, it's not your fault—excuse me, but this kid is really killing me with this constant bathroom use. I'm kind of sure my bladder is porous."

Sam ran out of the living room toward the bathroom.

Alexis laughed and shook her head.

--- "What are you laughing at?"

She had completely forgotten that Diane had been in the apartment. Diane sat down next to her, not noticing Sam's coat hanging from the coat rack.

--- "Sam—"

Diane put the plate of cut limes down on the coffee table beside the tequila and salt. She took Alexis' hand into her own.

--- "It's okay to think about that little garden gnome; she was a funny little oompah loompah. I mean, I don't want you to tell Kristina or Molly this, but that little smurfette was my favorite; that's why I brought the tequila over, Lex! If ever there was a person who needed an intervention more than me, it was that short stack. We'll take a toast in her honor."

Alexis saw Sam coming down the steps quietly. Sam put her finger to her lips so that Alexis did not point out to Diane that she was there. Alexis looked at Diane, trying hard not to laugh.

--- "You're so thoughtful, Di. I really don't know what I would've done without you. I think Sam would've loved the many heartfelt nicknames you had for her."

Diane smiled and poured two shots and handed one to Alexis with the salt and lime. Both women salted the backs of their hands, licked it off, and took the shot of tequila before biting into the lime. While Alexis coughed as the liquor made its way through her system, Diane jumped up from her seat; she was shocked at how strong the liquor was.

--- "Whew! My goodness, this is by far the strongest liquor I have ever purchased!"

As she turned around, she noticed Sam leaning against the wall by the steps.

--- "Boo."

Diane turned white as a sheet before passing out on the floor; Sam was in stitches while Alexis glared at her daughter. She got up from the couch and knelt on the floor beside Diane.

--- "Will you stop laughing, Samantha! Go get a bottle of water."

After the past twenty-four hours, Sam needed that laugh.

--- "Sorry, Mom."

She walked to the refreshment table and grabbed a bottle; Alexis took it from her.

--- "You couldn't have scared her in a more tactful way?"

Sam scoffed at her mother.

--- "Tactful? How would you have suggested I make my presence known to her, Mom? **Wearing a white sheet over my body? Walking in and asking her how her day was? Sitting down and taking a shot with her? **You could've told her I was alive, you know."

**Alexis pointed at her daughter.**

--- "You, shut up—Diane, get up."

Alexis tried to pour the water down her throat, but that was to no avail; Sam pushed her mother out of the way.

--- "There's a reason you're a lawyer, and not a normal person—"

She poured another glass of tequila, and waved it in front of Diane's face.

--- "Come on you super lush, you know you want it."

Diane's eyes began to flutter.

--- "That's right! Open your eyes, you liquored up wino."

Sam put the shot at Diane's mouth and the woman automatically cocked her head back and took it. She opened her eyes completely as the liquor burned her throat and looked in shock at Sam standing before her.

--- "You're supposed to be dead."

Sam stood up and held out her hand to help Diane off the ground; Alexis knocked her daughter's hand out of the way and extended her own.

--- "You're not supposed to be lifting any weight, Samantha."

Diane grimaced at Alexis before accepting her help up.

--- "Excuse you, but I'm quite certain I don't weigh more than you do, Lex. Besides, I'm not "weight," as you call me."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Whatever; you knew what I meant."

Diane stared at Sam in disbelief before turning to Alexis.

--- "Why the hell didn't you tell me that you were hosting a 'Night of the Living Dead' party!? My goodness, I would've brought my grandfather along."

Sam frowned.

--- "Um, is he dead?"

--- "God, no! He's just as old and decrepit as they come! I'm afraid to leave him standing near a funeral home or hospital for too long; they might accidentally ship him off to be buried!"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all this; I was trying to let you know when you came in, but you didn't give me a chance."

Diane grabbed the tequila, and poured to more shots. She handed one to Sam, but she refused.

--- "I'm pregnant."

Diane stared at her in disbelief before taking the shot herself.

--- "I didn't realize that mummies and zombies could get knocked up. Who's the father? That scary thing from 'Tales from the Crypt?'"

Alexis and Sam laughed aloud.

--- "No, that would be Lucky."

**--- "Hmm… I would've thought it was that man of steel across the hall."**

Sam smiled, while Alexis shot an iced glare at both her best friend and daughter. Diane, on the other hand, took another shot and slammed it onto the table.

--- "GOD, Lex! You let me think that you were mourning for all these months?! MONTHS! Meanwhile she was alright, and knocked up!"

Alexis put her hand on Diane's knee.

--- "I'm really sorry, but no one knew that she was alive. I found out after the funeral, and then we went into hiding; I mean, we lived in Brockton, for pete's sake, Di!"

--- "What the hell is Brockton?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Cow turd."

Alexis quickly explained everything that had transpired and the reasons behind their hiding. She informed Diane of the fact that the same person or persons who killed her nephew and Elizabeth killed Sonny. Diane was shocked.

--- "This is unbelievable, and you still don't believe that it's your stepmother?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Please, if it were that whack job, she would've certainly come to finish the job after finding out that Nik died. It's definitely not her."

Sam covered her face with her hands.

--- "God, this is a mess—Mom, we haven't even told Krissy about Nik or about her father yet."

Alexis nodded.

--- "I know, but she's just gotten out of surgery; I don't think that this would be the most prudent time to tell her something like that—"

Sam and Diane nodded in agreement.

--- "When are you going to tell her?"

--- "I don't know."

**************************************

_He had never been so enraged in his life. He wanted the child. He needed the child._

**

* * *

  
****ANY IDEAS?? WE'RE GETTING DOWN TO THE WIRE... ARE THE PUZZLE PIECES COMING TOGETHER? **


	32. Calm

**We're beginning our descent… Please fasten your seatbelts. Pray we don't crash.**

Carol, I'm aiming between 40 and 45; preferably 40.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty- Two**

**Calm**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_--- "I want the child, today."_

_He slammed the phone shut._

**************************************

Sam and Kristina were sitting at the table eating bowls of cereal.

--- "That was absolutely disgusting and might I add traumatizing!"

Sam was trying her best not to choke on her cereal as she listened to her sister's ranting.

--- "What the hell was she thinking!? Did she think that was okay?"

--- "Krissy, it's not that serious—"

Kristina put her spoon down and stared at Sam in disbelief.

--- "Are you friggin' kidding me? What could possibly have been worse?"

Sam returned her sister's stare.

--- "Um, walking in on it?"

Kristina knew that she would never be able to live down that moment in her life.

--- "Fine."

Just then, Alexis walked into the kitchen; she was glowing and all smiles. Kristina looked at her mother in disgust, while Sam looked mildly amused and disgusted at the same time.

It had been four months since the shooting at Kelly's, and there were no incidents. Their lives were returning to normal, and Alexis could not have been happier. She and Mac had been dating for nearly six months; Molly had turned nine, but she was still as sweet and small as ever, and Sam was seven months pregnant. Kristina was out of the hospital, and doing well, and while she took the news of her father and cousin's deaths hard, she was coping very well. Most importantly, the family was back home at the lake house.

Alexis saw the looks on her daughters' faces and frowned before giving them kisses on the tops of their heads.

--- "Good Morning! What are the death glares about?"

Kristina looked to Sam to speak up because she knew that her sister was able to get away with saying more things to their mother than she was. Sam rolled her eyes at her sister and sighed.

--- "Mom, you're loud."

Alexis made a face.

--- "What are you talking about?"

Sam moved her feet off from the chair opposite her, and walked toward her mother.

--- "Let's put it this way: there must have been an earthquake last night that no one other than yourself felt."

Alexis still did not understand the riddled way in which Sam was talking.

--- "Honey, what? You're talking like Spinelli right now; just tell me what you're talking about."

Molly walked into the room yawning; she gave her mother a hug and kissed Sam's belly, before sitting at the table and pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

--- "Mommy, why were you screaming last night? I was going to come check on you, but Krissy said you were probably having a nightmare. I wanted to bring you a nightlight, but she wouldn't let me."

Alexis looked at Molly, then to Kristina, who glared at her, then to Sam, who nodded amusingly; she reddened and put her hand over her mouth.

--- "Sh!t. -- Um, baby, Krissy was right; I, uh, I had a nightmare."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Must have been some nightmare."

Molly agreed with her sister.

--- "Yea, you kept screaming: MAC! MAC! Was he coming after you?"

Kristina could not help but interject.

--- "He was coming alright, Mol."

Alexis glared at her daughter and reddened more. Sam leaned her face into her mother's arm to stop herself from laughing out loud. Alexis was mortified; she never realized that she had been that loud.

--- "[ahem] Um, Molly, I'm sorry I woke you from your sleep. It won't happen again. Kristina, Samantha, I need to speak to you."

Alexis grabbed Sam by the arm, and Kristina begrudgingly followed her mother out of the kitchen and into the living room.

--- "Samantha, sit; your ankles are swollen."

Sam slowly sat down on the couch; Kristina followed suit, waiting to be yelled at. Alexis paced the room furiously.

--- "I cannot believe you two!"

Sam interrupted her.

--- "Excuse me, but I didn't say anything, Mom—"

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "The hell you didn't Samantha! You've rubbed off on your sister, here! Kristina, seriously, what in the world is up with those comments in front of your little sister?"

Kristina shook her head.

--- "I don't know what you're getting so upset about Mom; Molly didn't know what was going on. Besides, we're the ones who are traumatized! I mean, really, are ears were BLEEDING last night hearing you carry on! You should be apologizing to us, instead of yelling!"

Alexis sat down on the coffee table; she buried her face in her hands for a few moments before looking at her daughters.

--- "I'm really sorry. I'm just embarrassed."

Sam couldn't lean forward to comfort her mother, so she put her foot on the coffee table and nudged her with it. Alexis grabbed her daughter's foot.

--- "Um, Sam, honey, thank you, but I don't want your feet rubbing on me—"

--- "You had something worse rubbing on your—"

If looks could have killed, Sam would have been dead on the spot. She smiled at her mother.

--- "Sorry, I couldn't help myself—"

--- "And that's what I mean about your influence on your sister! She's sixteen and she's already starting with the gutter comments. It's bad enough that it comes from you, but I don't need them coming from your sister as well; God forbid Molly start with them."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "It's not that serious, Mom. I'm quite familiar with personal earthquakes—"

Alexis pointed her finger at her daughter.

--- "Not another word out of you."

Sam looked around the room.

--- "Where is he anyway?"

Mac walked into the living room.

--- "I'm right here."

He looked as embarrassed as Alexis had been minutes prior. He walked over to Alexis and kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ears.

--- "I thought you said that they were sound sleepers."

Alexis blushed.

--- "Normally they are."

Sam and Kristina looked at each other. Kristina nudged her sister.

--- "Say something!"

Sam shook her head.

--- "Um, excuse me, but we can hear you. We might be sound sleepers, but we're certainly awake now, and our hearing is still in tact despite that sound show you put on last night. You know, I think this might have actually traumatized my baby. When Mac came in, she definitely decided to press down on my bladder. Luckily, I don't have to pee… just yet."

Alexis pulled Sam and Kristina up from the couch.

--- "Okay, you two, go to your rooms—"

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "Now which room would that be? The one that I'm banned from, or the one that I've been assigned?"

Since they moved back into the house, Alexis refused to allow Sam to sleep in her room as she deemed it too far from everyone else, considering the fact that their lives were on the line. She had Kristina and Molly bunk together, and Sam took over Kristina's bedroom.

Alexis glared at her daughter; this was a record amount of glares for the day. Sam nodded her head and put her hands up in defeat.

--- "Fine, to Krissy's room it is, but let's get this straight, Mom, I'm not leaving because you're forcing me out, I'm almost thirty; I'm leaving because your granddaughter has forced my hand and I have to actually pee now."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "Whatever, Samantha."

Kristina turned around before leaving the room.

--- "Um, Mac, Molly's AWAKE in the kitchen. Keep that in mind, okay?"

Alexis sat down on the couch and covered her face.

**************************************

_It was by chance that he stumbled upon the paperwork. A file was sent to his family home. He looked through them and discovered a copy of the Final Will and Testament of an Andreus Davidovitch._

_--- "What is this?"_

_His curiosity was peaked. The statement read:_

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"_This is my Final Will and Statement._

_Being of sound mind I leave to my love Layna Alexander, the entirety of my estate for the remainder of her living life. Upon her passing, at which time we will be rejoined in everlasting love, my children Natasha and Kristina Nillson, shall inherit what will undoubtedly be denied to them upon my death. _

_I bequeath to Natasha and her heirs, as well as to Kristina and her heirs, equally, my entire estate. _

_While I have safely provided for my young daughter, Kristina, my Natasha (whose name I was forced to change for her safety, lest she remember the incidents of the past), has been mistreated and abused at the hands of my wretched wife. For her safety, yet to her detriment, I am sorry to say that I did nothing to prevent the pain and suffering inflicted upon my dear daughter. I have failed her in more ways than can be calculated, and my only hope is to make it right._

_I hope that one day my children will find each other again, so that they may share in the only thing that I could provide to them. While I understand that money will never compensate for all that they have lost because of my own selfishness, they will certainly be given a portion of what was rightfully theirs to begin with._

_**Clause: **__If neither of my children survives my wretched wife and her bastard children, only then may she enjoy the toils of my hard labor._

_Andreus Davidovitch _

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_He took the paper, crumpled it up, and threw it into the fire._

**************************************

Jason had Spinelli continue to do research on everything that had transpired during the time that Jeff had kidnapped Kristina as this seemed to be the beginning of the Davis family's problems.

--- "Spinelli, I want to know about everyone involved in that case. I want to know why that man came after Kristina. I want to know how he found her. I want to know about the guy that helped him escape, and about the guy that he killed. EVERYTHING, Spinelli. Sam's going to have this baby in two months, and she does not want to have it when her family's life is in danger."

Spinelli was typing furiously.

--- "The Jackal has been working on the case, Stone Cold, but my lead has run cold."

Jason looked at Spinelli.

--- "What are you talking about, and please speak English?"

He sighed and thought about his words carefully.

--- "Well, it seems that according to the letter Will sent to the Goddess Mother and the Phantom Fair Lady—"

--- "Excuse me? Phantom Fair Lady?"

--- "Fair Samantha."

Jason rubbed his eyes and paced the room.

--- "Fine, whatever, continue."

--- "Ok, well, Will states that his partner, Kevin was truly the brother of one of the Dastardly Pimp's victims—"

--- "Okay? He changed his identity to get into the FBI—"

--- "Yes, but the FBI system is very stringent and meticulous. He would have had to have help bypassing such a process."

Jason stopped pacing.

--- "Are you telling me that someone from the inside helped him?"

Spinelli shook his head.

--- "Well, that is a good guess; that was my original thoughts, however the lead person on the case was Agent Raynor. The problem with him is that he only became involved in the case shortly AFTER Kevin was put on the case—"

--- "What happened to the lead agent before Raynor?"

Spinelli shrugged his shoulders.

--- "I haven't been able to find anything about him. He's disappeared from the radar."

--- "Well haven't the FBI been looking for him?"

--- "Yes, but there's been no developments, and nothing relating to him have been accessed or used since the day he disappeared. It's as though he never existed. The FBI has closed the case on him."

Jason shook his head.

--- "Unbelievable."

**************************************

_Layna left Greece with her two sons and started a brand new life in the States. She had more than enough money to live comfortably and to provide her sons with the best higher education. Being that they were fourteen and sixteen when they arrived in the States, they mainstreamed into the life of the American teenager. _

_The boys worked on their accents until no one could tell that they had lived anywhere else, but in the United States. They studied hard in school and quickly became the tops of their classes. Layna was quite proud of her sons._

_Unfortunately, one day, when Steven, her younger son was driving home from college, he was struck by a tractor-trailer; he died on impact. _

_Layna cried and accepted the loss of her son, and took comfort in the fact that she still had her other son. She thanked God for her Tomas._

**************************************

Sam was lying in bed reading a magazine with her feet propped up on pillows. Her back was killing her, and her feet were swollen. She was not appreciating the way her baby was sucking the energy out of her. Molly walked into the room and sat on the bed beside her sister.

--- "Hey baby, what's up?"

--- "Nothing much. I just want to make sure Danny is entertained."

Molly put a pair of headsets on her sister's stomach; she flipped through her songs on her iPod until she found the song she loved.

--- "Here you go! Miley Cyrus."

Sam could not stand the girl; she was not about to let her little sister blast that music to her daughter.

--- "Definitely not, Mol."

Molly looked annoyed.

--- "What's wrong?"

--- "I don't like Miley Cyrus. I don't want you having my baby listening to her crap."

--- "It's NOT crap, SAM! It's better than the stuff YOU listen to! NO ONE cares about U2, or Jay-Z, or Aerosmith!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "I'm not arguing with you about this. Danny's inside of me right now, therefore whatever she listens to, I'm bound to hear; I don't like that little girl you kids love, so I'm not having Danny listen to her either. Sorry."

Kristina walked into the room; she was freshly showered.

--- "Out squirt."

Molly did not move an inch from her spot beside Sam.

--- "I'm not leaving! This is Sam's room."

Kristina was already annoyed with the fact that she had to share a room with Molly; she did not need her sister to now try to claim that her room was no longer hers but Sam's.

--- "Um, no. Sam's room is on the other side of the house. This is my room; Sam's merely an intruder—"

Sam put her magazine down.

--- "Um, excuse me? An intruder? Kristina, believe me, I don't want to be in your room; I definitely love my own. I also love having my own bathroom and some sense of privacy without you all barging in constantly. God, I thought it was bad when I was on the other side of the house, but it's worse here. I'm almost thirty years old, and I'm being forced by my MOTHER to sleep in a teenager's room and stare at pictures of these dumb ass Jonas Brothers everywhere. Trust me Krissy, this is NOT my choice. I do have some self-respect. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go pee."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

--- "Yea, don't get stuck this time, Sam! I'm not helping you."

Sam flipped her little sister the bird when Molly wasn't looking. Kristina called after her.

--- "REAL MATURE! What would Mom say?!"

Sam called out from the bathroom.

--- "She'd say you deserved it!"

Kristina pushed Molly off from her bed.

--- "Get out, squirt!"

Molly stuck her tongue out at her sister and walked through the bathroom to her bedroom, causing Sam to scream at her.

--- "AGAIN! Can I pee in peace? Is that possible?! Molly, this isn't the only way into your room! Now, close the door!"

Molly slammed the door shut and lied on her bed.

--- "You people are sucking the LIFE out of me! I'm too young for all this stress!"

**************************************

_She found him lying bloodied on the ground. _

_--- "You pathetic worth of crap; you are my biggest mistake."_

_She knelt down and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but there nonetheless._

_--- "Ah, well there's hope for you yet; this is certainly not an honorable way to die."_

_She injected him with the syringe she kept handy for moments such as these; with the path that he had been taking, she knew that one day soon it would be useful._

_--- "Sleep, you good for nothing piece of crap."_

_She could not let him die. She hid safely when she heard someone approaching the caves._

**************************************

Mac had just gotten off of the phone when he sat down with Alexis on the couch; he could not believe the news that he had just received.

--- "What was that about?"

He looked at her.

--- "This isn't going to be easy to explain, so I hope you can help fill in the blanks."

--- "Ok?"

--- "My men have been looking into everything, Lex. They're going into your past—"

She was shocked.

--- "Why are you going through my past?"

--- "Well, Lex, considering the fact that you AND your daughters are being targeted, it seems that this is a personal hit. This isn't random."

Alexis' past was something that she held dear to her; she did not like people combing through it, but given the circumstances, she did not have much of a choice in the matter.

--- "Fine. What did you find out?"

--- "Do you know anything about a Layna Alexander?"

She shook her head; this was the first time that she had ever heard of the woman.

--- "No? Who is she?"

He put his finger up to tell her to hold off on her questions. He continued.

--- "Okay, what about Andreus Davidovitch?"

She hesitantly nodded her head.

--- "He was the man Mikkos claimed to be my father, when I was a child. He changed my name to Alexandra Davidovitch, and told me that my parents' names were Andreus and—"

--- "What?"

Alexis walked to the mantle and stared blankly at the only picture she had of her mother, Kristin Nillson.

--- "Mikkos told me that my mother's name was Layna Davidovitch. He told me that both Layna and Andreus were distant cousins and my parents. He said they died in a car accident and I had nobody, so he and Helena took me in."

Mac stood up and turned Alexis to him.

--- "Well, this woman Layna Alexander was willed the entire Davidovitch fortune."

Alexis pulled away from Mac.

--- "Wait, are you telling me that Andreus Davidovitch was a real person?"

**************************************

_The monitors beeped; the doctor wrote in her chart and stepped out to speak to her son._

_--- "I'm sorry, but there isn't much when can do for her."_

_He covered his mouth._

_--- "Ok. Thank you."_

_He walked into the room and sat beside her._

_--- "Mama, I'm doing the best I can. I'm going to take care of everything. Just—just hold on for me, okay?"_

_He gave her a kiss on the forehead, and left._

**************************************

It was a nice spring day, so Lucky decided to take the boys to the zoo. Spencer had been adjusting very well since Nikolas had died, and grew closer to his little cousins who were coping with the loss of their mother and uncle.

--- "Look at the giraffe, Daddy!"

Lucky smiled at how happy his children were, but his heart was still uneasy; he knew that it was not over.

--- "Yea, it's pretty big buddy!"

Spencer walked over to the monkeys.

--- "Uncle Lucky, can I feed the monkey a banana?"

--- "No bud, I don't think that would be a great idea, but I know if we go see the goats, they'll let us feed them! Do you want to go?"

Cameron and Spencer jumped up and down, while Jake, who was in his arms clapped his hands.

--- "Ok, let's go!"

He put Jake in the stroller and they began to walk toward the goats. Cameron and Spencer decided to race each other.

Suddenly a large crowd formed.

--- "CAM! SPENCE! Come back where I can see you."

Cameron came running back to his father without Spencer. Lucky pushed the stroller and held onto Cameron.

--- "SPENCER!"

He searched and searched, but his nephew was gone.

* * *

**Please Review so I know whether or not I'm confusing anyone . We're going in for a crash landing, so if you don't let me know you're confused... well, I guess it means you're not surviving that crash. I want to know with what conclusions you're coming up...**

**Lemme know! (I'm not above holding my chapters hostage).**


	33. Changes

HA! Demon… I don't wear hats! So, my head can get as big as it likes! LMAO.

We're going for forty chapters. No more, no less! So, buckle up!

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

**Changes**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_She made sure to not move a muscle when he came by to see her; she had been lying in that hospital bed for months and the doctors said that they were not certain that she would ever recover. He walked into the room and sat down beside her._

_--- "I have a feeling that today is the day. I don't know what to think about it all. I love her, but I feel that I don't have any other choice in this matter."_

_He looked at her lying helplessly in the bed; if he were not so conflicted, he would have reveled in the sight. Unfortunately, his mind continued to go back to the thought that in a short amount of time four and a half people would be killed; his stomach turned._

_--- "I know that I'm nothing but a disappointment to you, but I want you to know that right now, seeing you lying in this position is almost rewarding for the strife and pain you've caused so many. It's really a shame that you never managed to make amends for your actions; whether naturally or by force, the end of your life is quickly approaching, and you've nothing to show for it. I can only hope that when you do leave this earth, you will realize that I'm not the regrettable person you've viewed me as my whole life."_

_He stood up, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and walked out of the room._

_When she heard the door close behind him, she opened her eyes; a single tear escaped. How mistaken she had been all of those years._

**************************************

--- "Ok, what about Raynor? What have you found out about him?"

Spinelli shook his head.

--- "Nothing out of the ordinary. He was born Thomas Raynor, he had a brother Steven, but he died some time ago. Um, his mother, Alexandra Raynor, was a single parent—"

--- "What about his father?"

Spinelli typed furiously.

--- "His father was Andrew David Raynor; he died when Raynor was a teenager."

Jason's interests were peaked; there was something off about everything.

--- "Um, I want you to look up everything you can about his parents. I also want you to find out how he got onto the case."

--- "Is everything alright, Stone Cold?"

Jason scratched his chin.

--- "No, there's something off about this whole situation. I don't know what it is, but something's not right."

--- "And you think that Agent Raynor is in the middle of it all?"

Jason nodded his head.

--- "I think that he knows more than what he's leading on."

**************************************

_While laughing at that smug face, he let go of the edge and allowed himself to fall. He knew the pit, like every dark tunnel and place in Port Charles, very well; he craved the darkness. As he freefell, he counted to five before reaching out and grabbing a hold of a platform; he pulled himself up. He laughed at their stupidity._

**************************************

Alexis was confused by everything Mac was telling her.

--- "Is Andreus a real person?"

She was becoming anxious at the implications that might exist if he was a real person; it would mean that he was really her father and she would have been lied to once again about her parentage.

--- "Mac, is this woman, Layna, supposed to be my real mother?"

--- "Lex—"

She began to pace back and forth.

--- "If she's my mother, then what about Kristin! Why the hell did I call Kristin 'mama?' Was she killed for nothing? Did that witch slit her throat like an animal because of a mistaken identity?"

--- "Honey, listen to me—"

She began to rub her head in an attempt to figure things out; she did not realize that Mac was trying to interrupt her.

Mac stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.

--- "Alexis, listen to me."

Her eyes were filling with tears.

Sam was passing through the living room and noticed Mac holding her mother.

--- "Um, don't mind me, I just want a glass of water."

Alexis heard her daughter speaking; she took her eyes off of Mac and looked at her daughter.

--- "Sam—"

Sam saw that her mother was on the verge of tears.

--- "Mom, what's wrong?"

Mac figured that it was great timing on Sam's part to pass at that moment; he would not have to retell the situation.

--- "Sam, come sit down; there's something you need to hear as well—"

Sam did not take her eyes off of her mother; the look on her face worried her. Alexis wiped her eyes and nodded her head for Sam to join them. Sam walked over to her mother; Alexis and she sat down on the couch together waiting for Mac to explain the situation to them.

--- "Sam, I was just telling you mother that we've been investigating her past—"

Sam knew her mother did not like people to dig into her personal life.

--- "How could you—"

Alexis put her hand on Sam's leg.

--- "Honey, just listen."

Sam looked at her mother and nodded her head.

--- "Fine."

Mac took a deep breath and tried again.

--- "Alright, well it seems that a man by the name of Andreus Davidovitch left his entire estate to a woman named Layna Alexander—"

The information immediately clicked in Sam's mind.

--- "Alexander and Davidovitch? Like Alexandra Davidovitch? Like Alexis Davis? What the hell is all that about? Who're Andreus Davidovitch and Layna Alexander?"

Mac was impressed.

--- "I was trying to explain to your mother that when we did some more research, Andreus Davidovitch and Mikkos Cassidine were one and the same."

Alexis buried her face in her hands.

--- "Okay, fine. But who's Layna Alexander, and how could she have gotten a hold of my father's entire estate when Stavros got all of that? God, Mac, Nikolas inherited everything, and now that he's gone, I'm the guardian of the estate, but Spencer's the heir."

Mac sat down in front of Alexis.

--- "Layna was your father's mistress. "

Alexis took a deep breath.

--- "Okay, but what aren't you telling me?"

Mac put his hands on her knees.

--- "There's still a Cassidine Estate—"

Sam stared at her mother; Alexis was confounded.

--- "There're two estates?"

Mac nodded his head.

--- "And your mother and you girls are the heir to them both."

Sam and Alexis' mouths fell open.

Before they could continue any further, the phone began to ring.

**************************************

Agent Raynor sat in his office with two other men.

--- "Listen to me carefully; it is very important that you do not fail. There isn't much time left, and there's a lot hanging in the balance, so your success is imperative."

The agents nodded their heads.

--- "I don't want the same bullsh!t that happened with the Kelly's shooting happening again."

--- "We're sorry about that."

Raynor looked as though he had been slapped in the face.

--- "Sorry? Are you kidding me?"

Raynor was not convinced; he walked to the filing cabinet and pulled out the file containing the Last Will and Testament.

--- "Look, this nonsense has gone on too long! I want it over today! Fail and you will be sorry."

He slammed the file on the desk.

--- "The second she dies, all hell will break loose. Now get out!"

They stepped out of the office.

Agent Raynor looked at the picture of his two sons.

--- "I swear to you boys, when this is all over, everything will be different."

He opened his desk drawer and saw the letter he had previously written sitting there. It would be delivered shortly.

He grabbed his jacket and headed back to the hospital.

**************************************

_Her cousin was dead but months after he made her give up her baby. While she hated him for forcing her to give up the one person that might love her, she still mourned for the loss of the only "parent" she had ever known. _

_She was summoned back to Greece for the funeral and for the reading of the Will. She did not know why she would have been expected at the Will's reading when she knew that she was not receiving a penny. Why would she? She was merely a charity case taken in from the street; she was constantly reminded of that fact._

_They sat down in the parlor as the attorney read the contents of the will. _

"_I, Mikkos Cassidine, being of sound mind leave to my wife, Helena Cassidine, the entirety of the Cassidine estate, to do with as she sees fit for the remainder of her life. It is with condition, mapped out in a separate document, sent to my wife, that the estate is given. _

_Signed,_

_Mikkos Cassidine._

_Post Script. Dear Alexandra, you will never be forgotten."_

_At the reading of that final line, everyone turned to look at the shy girl sitting in the corner; they all wondered what such a line could mean. She was a pauper; a mere charity case whom Mikkos had never given much attention._

_She disregarded the line and thought about her new life. She was sixteen, with no benefactor and the entire fortune was devised to Helena, who hated her more than anyone ever should; she had no real prospects of a future. As she sat there, she made up her mind; she did not care about the money or about the people sitting in the room; she planned on becoming successful with or without their help. She did not give the line a second's thought._

**************************************

Lucky searched for Spencer for ten minutes before calling Alexis.

--- "Alexis Davis."

He took a deep breath before breaking the news.

--- "Alexis, it's Lucky—"

Alexis noticed that Lucky sounded off; her alarms suddenly went off. She sat up straight in the chair and grabbed Sam's hand.

--- "Lucky, what's the matter? Is everything alright with Spencer?"

--- "No. I think he was kidnapped."

She stood up and went to grab her jacket. Sam and Mac stood up.

--- "Mom, where—"

Alexis put her finger up.

--- "Lucky, where are you?"

--- "I'm at the Port Charles Zoo."

--- "Did you call the PCPD?"

--- "I'm going to do that after I speak with you."

Alexis screamed into the phone.

--- "You call them NOW! I'll be right there."

Lucky held onto Cameron and Jake as he dialed for help. As he waited for a response from the PCPD, he quickly searched the area near the goats where Spencer had been heading. He noticed a piece of paper sticking out from the fence. He pulled it out, read it, and promptly hung up the phone.

**************************************

_He knew that if it were ever discovered that she had been left the entirety of the estate, she was as good as dead. In addition to killing her, her son would also be killed, as would his children. He could not risk that happening. For that reason, he required that in order for her to inherit the money, she was to leave the country under a new name. She was never to return. These were his conditions._

**************************************

Spencer was taken and put in a car with darkly tinted windows. He looked at him.

--- "Do you know who I am?"

Spencer shook his head. The man smiled.

--- "I'm your grandfather."

He took his cell phone out of his breast pocket and dialed.

--- "It's showtime."


	34. Shortly

Please buckle your seatbelts, I see turbulent clouds ahead.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

**Shortly**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Lucky was frozen in his spot as he read the note several times over: _"Call the cops, and you'll be dead." _ He did not know what to do; he could not let Nikolas' son stay gone. He owed it to his brother to ensure that his son remained safe. He thought about how he could get the information out efficiently without calling attention to himself, if he were being watched. He looked at the stroller where Jake was seated quietly. He bent down as though he were talking to his son, and quickly sent a text to Mac.

He stood up and held Cameron's hand and pushed the stroller a few feet. He felt a sharp pain in the back up his head; everything went dark.

**************************************

_They surrounded the grounds from far distances. Like the rifle used to take Jeff out all those months ago, and the ones used at the Kelly's shootings, they were able to keep an adequate distance on the grounds, that they would not be noticed._

_They waited for the call so that they could take aim._

**************************************

Alexis grabbed her jacket and her cell phone. Sam was up following her.

--- "Mom, where are you going? What did Lucky say?"

--- "They took him—"

Alexis was frantic; Mac was nervous.

--- "Took whom, Lex?"

--- "They took Spencer! They took that child and they'll kill him the way they did Nikolas!"

Sam was shocked; this was something that she did not expect at all.

--- "But Mom, where are you going?

Alexis was shocked her daughter was asking her such a question.

--- "Sam. I'm going to find him! Where the hell else do you think I'm going? I'm not about to let these assholes keep my nephew."

She grabbed her car keys and made her way to the door.

--- "Lex, wait! I'm not letting you go out there! If the person who took Spencer is remotely involved in all of this mess with you girls, I don't want you anywhere near this."

Alexis was angry; she could not believe that Mac was trying to stop her.

--- "Mac, I told you, I already lost Nikolas; I'm not about to lose Spencer—"

Sam interrupted her mother.

--- "MOM Stop! There's nothing that you can do anyway! If you show up there, God only knows what they'll do to you if they're still around! You can't go!"

Alexis could not believe her ears.

--- "Samantha, you of all people are trying to stop me? God, if you weren't pregnant you would be running out of this house right beside me."

--- "No Mom, I wouldn't. I think it's clear that these people don't care who they hurt, and after Nik died, hell, after I died, I know how hard it was on you and the girls. I wouldn't make you go through that again! You said it yourself: Nikolas is gone; they killed him! Mom, I don't want to lose you either. Let the authorities do what they need to do to find them; just don't put yourself at risk… please."

Sam began to get emotional; she began to cry. Regardless of the situation, she hated crying in front of people, especially those outside of her family; she was embarrassed that Mac was in the room.

--- "Sorry, hormones… just ignore me. Well, don't ignore me, Mom… listen to me; let Mac go. There's nothing you can do for him, just let Mac go handle this."

Alexis knew that her daughter was right; as much as she wanted to leave and get her nephew back, she could not run the risk of getting hurt in the process.

--- "Fine."

Mac grabbed his jacket from the coat rack, and gave Alexis a passionate kiss.

--- "I swear to you, Lex, I'll find him."

She felt a tear roll down her face.

--- "I believe you."

He wiped the tear from her face, and gave her a gentle kiss on each eyelid.

--- "I love you. Wait for me."

She nodded her head, and looked him in the eyes.

--- "I love you too. Please be careful."

He gave her one final kiss, and was out of the door. Alexis melted into a puddle of tears.

**************************************

_He walked into his house and found him sitting in the dark._

_--- "What are you doing here?"_

_Is that any way to greet your brother?_

_--- "My brother?"_

_He laughed at the ignorant man._

_--- "Are you telling me that you never knew that we shared the same father? You never wondered where your father ran off to after your mother took you and left the country? Did you really think you could hide?"_

_He shook his head; he had no idea who this man was sitting in the middle of his living room._

_--- "Who the hell are you?"_

_--- "We'll skip the formalities for now. Let's just say that since you managed to live all these years on my fortune, that you can repay me by doing me a favor."_

_--- "Who are you to say that I'm living off of your fortune? Not that it's any of your business, but this is a result of my mother's inheritance."_

_The man smiled._

_--- "Ah, your mother! Layna, right?"_

_He did not like the way the conversation was turning._

_--- "What do you know about my mother?"_

_He stood up and walked around the room, looking at the pictures the man had of his family._

_--- "Lovely pictures. I take it that these two boys are my nephews?"_

_He walked over to him and took the picture from his hands._

_--- "They're not your nephews; they're my sons. Now what do you know about my mother?"_

_The man smiled._

_--- "I know that she's the cause of all of this."_

_He was quickly losing his patience._

_--- "All of WHAT?! What are you talking about? Who the hell are you!? What how the hell did you get into my house!?"_

_--- "I've already done everything that needs to be done. All you have to do is take the job."_

_--- "Take WHAT job?!"_

_The man walked back over to the chair he had previously occupied and pulled a file out of his briefcase. He handed it to the other man._

_--- "What is this?"_

_--- "That is the file for a man who goes by the name of Jeff; he's into child prostitution."_

_He threw the file down on the desk in repulsion._

_--- "That's disgusting."_

_The man shrugged his shoulders._

_--- "That may be so, but he's about to become your project—"_

_--- "What happened to the other agent on the case?"_

_--- "Let's just say he's enjoying a long overdue vacation."_

_He didn't like the sound of this._

_--- "What if I don't want to help you?"_

_The man walked back over to the picture of the two boys._

_--- "Well, I'd hate to have anything happen to these two."_

_--- "You wouldn't dare! You just said they were your nephews, why would you want to hurt them?"_

_The man looked at him nonchalantly._

_--- "I've got more important things on my mind; they're not high on the totem pole."_

_He was angry._

_--- "You son of a bitch."_

_The man laughed and shook his head before making his way to the door._

_--- "You have NO idea."_

_With that, he was gone._

**************************************

When Mac arrived at the scene with other members of the PCPD, Lucky was nowhere to be found.

--- "What the hell? Where is he? This is where he texted they would be! Okay, I want everyone to canvas the area. I want forensics on everything."

Mac was afraid that whoever was targeting Alexis and her family, might have taken Lucky as well.

--- "Sir?!"

One of his men called out to him.

--- "What's going on Douglass?"

The officer walked up to him holding a child's shoe in his hand.

--- "This shoe was found in the bushes."

Mac nervously looked toward the bushes.

--- "I want dogs out there."

He prayed that the shoe did not belong to neither of Lucky's children, or to Spencer.

--- "SIR!?"

Mac noted the sound of panic in his officer's voice; he ran over to where he stood.

--- "Oh my God! Lucky!?"

Lucky was on the ground beaten up and bleeding, but his kids were gone. Mac called for an ambulance.

--- "Lucky, are you alright?"

There was no response.

--- "Somebody search the area! I want those kids found!"

**************************************

_She received a letter in the mail shortly after he died, and prior to the reading of the will. The letter stated:_

"_My wife,_

_If you are reading this, I am no longer of this world. The fortune is yours. –"_

_She never loved her husband; she loved only his money. She rejoiced as she read that line. She continued._

"… _The fortune is yours. However, it is not with limitations or conditions. For years you have mistreated and called my child a bastard, but it is you who bore bastard children, and attempted to pass them off as my own—"_

_She grew incensed as she read the letter. How dare he call her children bastards when that little mouse of his had just borne a bastard child of her own!_

"_I will not leave those children anything whatsoever, not when my child will undoubtedly be left in the cold by you. Now, the conditions of my will are as follows:_

_1) If you survive either bastard, the fortune dies with you; your children's children will inherit nothing._

_2) If the bastards survive you, you may leave them with only fifty percent of the fortune; the other half will be of no concern to you._

_3) If both you and your bastards survive my Alexandra and her children and her children's children, only then will you have a right to the entire fortune._

_4) If any harm should come to her or her offspring by your hand, you automatically forfeit your rights and the rights of your children to the fortune._

_Now, I am well aware that your eldest and hateful child will be, by your keeping, left to run the estate, as will his eldest child, and that child's eldest, however I will remind you, that this allowance is but for the remainder of your life. The minute you leave this earth and your cursed soul makes it descent to the fiery depths of hell, the estate will be subject to the conditions outlined above._

_These are the terms and conditions. _

_May you rot in hell._

_Mikkos._

_Post Script: Do not make any attempts to destroy this letter, this is only a copy."_

_Helena tore the letter into pieces. _

_--- "That stupid son of a b!tch!"_

**************************************

Spinelli broke into the police computer files to find out what information they had discovered about the case.

--- "Stone Cold, are the names Layna Alexander and Andreus Davidovitch—"

Jason pulled up a chair and sat next to Spinelli at the sound of the names.

--- "I don't know about these people, but I know an Alexandra Davidovitch; that's Alexis. What did you find out?"

--- "Andreus left all of his money to this Layna woman—"

--- "When?"

--- "Late 1981."

Jason rubbed his face.

--- "That's around when Alexis' father died. Do me a favor; check the exact date of Mikkos Cassidine's death."

Spinelli typed at what seemed like the speed of light.

--- "December 1, 1981."

--- "And what about this guy?"

--- "The same—"

The pieces were falling together for Jason.

--- "What happened to Layna after she got the money?"

Spinelli searched again.

--- "Nothing."

Jason looked at him.

--- "What are you talking about, nothing?"

--- "Her trail runs cold after December 4, 1981."

Jason slammed his fist on the table.

--- "What the hell are we missing here!?"

**************************************

_The doctor's called him into the room and told him that it was only a matter of time. He walked into the room._

_--- "Mama! Please hold on! You can't go just yet. I know you need to be at peace. I know you want to be with him, but you know that you can't leave yet!"_

_His phone began to ring._

_--- "Hello?"_

_The man on the other line spoke quickly._

_--- "It's time."_

_The line went dead._

_He kissed his mother on the forehead._

_--- "Shortly, Mama. He wouldn't want you to come to him just yet."_

**************************************

Alexis paced the room staring at her cell phone. Sam was getting agitated.

--- "Mom, will you sit down already?! You're making me nauseous!"

Alexis stopped pacing and went to sit next to Sam on the couch.

--- "I'm sorry, I'm just really nervous. Why hasn't Mac called yet?"

--- "He doesn't have anymore information, Mom."

Just then, Kristina and Molly came out to the living room; Kristina noticed the air in the room.

--- "What's going on?"

Alexis looked at Sam.

--- "Um, Mol, you wanna come in the kitchen with me and we'll some sandwiches? I'm kinda hungry."

Molly knew that she was being ushered out of the room so that her mother and Kristina could talk; she hated when her family did that.

--- "No. I'm fine. I'm not hungry."

Alexis gave her youngest daughter a look.

--- "Molly, go make sandwiches with Sam. It's not a request."

Molly pouted and walked out of the room.

--- "I never get to hear the good stuff!"

Sam quickly followed her sister out.

When they were safely out of earshot, Alexis sighed and looked at her middle daughter.

--- "Spencer's been kidnapped."

Kristina shook her head.

--- "By the same people that killed… them?"

Alexis knew that it was still a difficult subject for her daughter to discuss; it was hard for everyone, but no one else had lost both their father and cousin in one night. She passed her hand over her daughter's cheek.

--- "Sweetie, I really don't know. Mac's gone to take care of this all."

Kristina laid her head on her mother's lap; Alexis played with her hair.

--- "I hope you're right. I can't lose anyone else, Mom."

--- "I know, sweetie—"

Alexis took her daughter's hand kissed it.

--- "I'm going to do my best to make sure that you girls are protected. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Sam and Molly came out of the kitchen with ham and cheese sandwiches.

--- "We're all good in here?"

Kristina got up and took the tray from her older sister.

--- "You're not supposed to be carrying anything."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Those sandwiches weigh like 2 pounds! Come on, this little girl is fine."

Alexis wagged her finger at Sam.

--- "Just as well, Samantha, I don't want you doing anything strenuous."

--- "Carrying a tray of sandwiches, Mom? Really?"

--- "Samantha, just sit."

Sam sat on the sofa with her mother and sister, while Molly took a seat on the floor opposite them. They ate in awkward silence until Sam sat up straight.

--- "Wait, did you hear that?"

Everyone stopped eating to listen. There were several strange sounds, followed by thuds. Sam met Alexis' worried gaze.

--- "They're gunshots."

They heard a thud nearby; they all turned their heads. Outside of their door, the guard was on the ground.

--- "Oh my God!"

Everything moved very quickly from there; eight men stormed into the house before the family could react. Two men pinned down each member of the family.

--- "MOM!"

--- "SAM! KRISTINA! MOLLY!"

Alexis was terrified; not for herself, but more so for her daughters. All of her girls were frightened, including Sam, who was concerned with her baby, as the pinned her on her stomach to die her down.

--- "PLEASE! I'M PREGNANT!"

The men took no notice of Sam's concern. Alexis was angry.

--- "DAMN IT! DON'T HURT HER!"

A man came over and smacked her in the face. All three girls screamed.

--- "MOMMY!" "MOM!"

Alexis looked over at them all.

--- "I love you, okay? No matter what happens, know that I love you."

Their tears blinded them as they professed their love to one another.

After the men tied them up, they injected each with a sedative, and placed them in the back of the van.

**************************************

**Alright… I've a busy last hoorah party filled weekend ahead of me, so…**

**Lemme know what you think, and perhaps I'll work it out between tomorrow night and some time Friday.**


	35. Recollections

Golly, I'm still queasy from last night… I hope this is good.

Liv, that's INSANE! That was such a randomly chosen date! Hilarios…

Um, I'm not even going to limit myself to 40 chapters anymore… I don't know if 5 more chapters is enough.

UNEDITED…

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

**Recollections**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

The paramedics arrived. They quickly examined Lucky, who had yet to regain consciousness.

--- "Okay, we're taking him."

Mac hated that one of his men were hurt. He looked at Lucky sadly.

--- "Don't worry, we're going to find who did this to you; we'll find your kids and Spencer!"

The paramedics loaded Lucky onto the ambulance and drove away.

Mac knew that there was no way that Spencer's disappearance, Lucky's injury, and everything that had been going on with Alexis' family were not connected.

**************************************

_She watched as he smashed the marble figurine into the head of the love of her life. She was horrified at the sight of her son killing this man… her Stefanos Karides. She had waited years to be able to be with him, but all that was taken from her in a matter of days. _

_Mikkos was dead. Finally. And by some act of Providence, Karides' wife decided, shortly thereafter, that she was leaving him and taking her bratty children with her. While he was not happy that she was taking his sons from him, he never really loved those children anyway; he wanted simply to retain control. How could he have possibly loved those children when he did not even love their mother; he never did. He only loved her two boys; he only loved his children with her, Stavros and Stefan. He loved her and waited patiently for her and for his ability to get to know his sons._

_Stavros was her first born, the heir to the Cassidines. She would see to that. He was to succeed her regardless of anything; she would never see him die or suffer. As much as she loved Karides, and as sickened, as she may have been that her son had murdered his father in cold blood, she could not allow him to go to prison. While she loved Karides, there was nothing left to be done for him; she had to protect her son._

_After he took Karides' body out as though he were dragging the trash to the dumpster, she, without the aid of the maids or other servants, got on her hands and knees and cleaned the blood from the floor. She took the figurine and scrubbed it clean of any blood, hair, or skin fragments. She fixed the room so that it appeared as though nothing had been disturbed; if her love's body were ever discovered, she did not want there to be any signs of her son's involvement._

_Once she cleaned the room in its entirety, she sat in the living room awaiting his return; she did not have to wait too long, as he entered approximately a half-hour later. He was startled to find her waiting for him._

_--- "Mother?"_

_Her eyes were swollen from the tears that she had cried. She had never been a crier, but the loss of the greatest love that she had ever known had sunk in as she wiped his blood from the floor. She stood up when her son spoke to her._

_--- "Stavros—"_

_He looked at her questioningly; he knew that she knew what he had done._

_--- "I had to do it."_

_She shook her head. She did not want to know his reasons; there was nothing to be done that could have changed what had occurred. Regardless of his explanation or excuses, she would never feel whole again._

_--- "I don't want to know. I will not allow you to be sent to prison for this. You have to leave—"_

_--- "You're kicking me out?"_

_She walked up to him. She placed her hands on either side of his cheeks and looked in his eyes. Despite the horrible crime he had just committed, she saw in him an innocence and fear only a mother could ever notice._

_--- "No, I would never kick you out, my son. I want you to leave so that I might be able to protect you. I don't want you to be arrested for killing your father—"_

_He pushed her away from him._

_--- "HE WAS NOT MY FATHER!"_

_She did not want to argue with him, nor was she ready to suffer the same fate as Karides; her son had proven that he was capable of anything. Her son had proven that night that he had inherited her ruthlessness; this discovery scared her more than she cared to ever admit._

_--- "Nonetheless, I will not have my son going to jail. I've arranged for you to go into hiding for a short while until I'm certain that you will not be arrested. Where did—where did you-- leave him?"_

_She attempted to hide her pain at the thought that Karides was lying dead alone in some alleyway. Stavros, on the other hand, was quite nonchalant and unnerved by his mother's demeanor; he almost laughed as he told her where he left the body._

_--- "He's on the steps of the Greek Orthodox Church where you and father were married—"_

_She gasped and put her hand to her mouth._

_--- "You left him out in public? You dropped him on the church steps where anyone might have been seen you? Why would you do that?"_

_He walked to the refreshment table and poured himself a glass of wine. He swished it in the glass, smelled and tasted it._

_--- "He needed to know that he could not interfere with my family."_

_Helena looked at him in more disgust than she had ever though possible for the son she loved and held so dearly. She walked out of them room._

**************************************

Alexis and the girls were loaded onto the van and driven to an estate an hour outside of Port Charles. They were then unloaded and left in a windowless room in the lower level of the house; it was the same room Sonny had previously occupied. The men untied the family, as they could not escape the area, even if they had tried.

Some time later, Alexis began to awaken from the effects of the sedative. The side of her face felt swollen, but she was unconcerned; what bothered her most were the unfamiliar surroundings. It took her a few seconds to recall that she and her children had been abducted. She crawled over to her daughters to make sure that they were still alive.

Kristina was nearest her, so she checked on her first.

--- "Krissy, sweetie, come on, open your eyes for Mommy."

She put her ear to her daughter's mouth to make sure that she was breathing; she was.

--- "Oh thank God. Okay, it doesn't look like you're going to wake up anytime soon, but if you could continue to breathe for Mommy, that would be helpful."

She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before checking on Molly; she was also breathing.

--- "Baby, I need you to also make sure that you stay with Mommy. I won't lose you either."

Alexis crawled over to Sam who was lying in her stomach. She quickly rolled her daughter over. Sam was breathing, but Alexis was afraid that the baby might have been hurt. She put her hands on Sam's stomach.

--- "Nikki, I want you to give Nana a sign that you're okay? Can you kick your mama for Nana?"

The baby did not respond; Alexis was nervous. She bent closer to her daughter's stomach and spoke to her granddaughter again.

--- "Nikki, you have to listen to Nana—"

She heard Sam groan. She took her attention away from her daughter's belly to check on Sam.

--- "Honey, are you okay?"

Sam tried to sit up, but her head was pounding. Alexis made remain in her spot.

--- "Mom, are you okay?"

Alexis passed her hand on her daughter's forehead to ensure that she did not have some form of reaction to the sedative.

--- "I asked you first. Are you okay, Sam?"

--- "Yea, I think so. My head just hurts."

Alexis sighed in relief.

--- "That's great. Now, I just want to make sure that my grandbaby in there is fine."

Sam reached her hand out to her mother.

--- "Help me sit up—"

--- "Samantha—"

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Mom, do you want to know how Dani is doing or not?"

Alexis relented and helped Sam sit up.

--- "I still prefer Nikki, by the way—"

Sam stared at her mother in disbelief.

--- "Are you seriously trying to have this conversation right now?"

--- "Fine, just show me that this child is alright."

Sam placed her mother's hand on her stomach.

--- "Dani, Yaya wants you to say hi. Say hi to your old babushka—"

Alexis shot Sam a disapproving look that quickly disappeared when she felt her granddaughter's kick.

--- "Nikki, please let your Mama know that is she thinks you're going to be calling me Yaya or Babushka, I'll tell Kelly to make her deliver without any medication. And take it from someone who's been cut open in a train tunnel, that's not going to be fun."

Just then the baby kicked her mother harder than she ever had. Alexis smiled at Sam who scowled in pain.

--- "That's my girl!"

--- "That was so mean!"

--- "And telling her to call me yaya or babushka isn't?"

Sam rolled her eyes and looked over at her sisters.

--- "I take it they're fine?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Thank goodness. I think they're just knocked out from whatever these assholes gave us."

Sam put her hand on her mother's face.

--- "Mom, are you okay? The side of your face is swollen."

Alexis put her hand on her daughter's.

--- "Sweetheart, I'm fine. I'm not concerned about myself anyway, I just want to make sure that you girls are alright."

--- "I wonder where we are—"

--- "Better question, I wonder who has us and where Spencer is.'

**************************************

_Layna knew that she was not going to be alive for much longer; the doctor had told her that her heart was giving out and being that she was at an advanced age, the likelihood for recovery was slim. Although Andreus' will, never indicated to whom the estate would fall upon her death, Layna had a feeling that it was to his daughter. _

_He hardly spoke about her, but Layna knew that he always thought about her. She recalled a conversation that they had had after a day of passion when her husband was away on business. He had made love to her in a way that was both passionate and emotional at the same time._

_--- "Andreus, what's the matter?"_

_He rolled away from her so that she could not see the tears welling in his eyes. He did not know how to tell her that the mother of his children had just been murdered at the hands of his wife. He did not want to scare Layna and cause her to end their relationship._

_--- "My daughter's mother died last evening."_

_This was the first time that she had heard of him having a daughter. She would have asked him about it, but she figured that it was pointless to do so._

_--- "I'm so sorry to hear that."_

_He nodded his head._

_--- "I believe that she's in danger—"_

_--- "Danger?"_

_--- "Her mother didn't just die, Layna, she was murdered."_

_Layna was taken aback. The city they lived in was rather safe; murders did not seem to happen there. He saw her look of shock. He could not tell her that Kristen's death was remaining uninvestigated; he had paid the chief of police off to let the situation alone. Instead of telling her all of that, he lied._

_--- "She didn't live in this city."_

_Layna nodded her head in relief._

_--- "So what will you do with your daughter?"_

_He also failed to tell her that his other young daughter was given to another family to be raised. He hated lying to Layna, but he figured that the less she knew about his true identity, the better. He would not be able to live with himself if his wife, because of him, had ever hurt her._

_--- "I need to bring her here to live with me. I can't leave her—"_

_He had to stop speaking because he felt the emotions surging. Layna noticed this and put her arms around him._

_--- "What's her name?"_

_--- "Natasha, but I need to change it for her safety; she mustn't remember her life as Natasha or what happened to her mother."_

_She still did not understand who could be after a child, but since he was being vague about it, Layna decided not to push the subject._

_--- "What will you name her?"_

_He looked at her. He loved this woman. While his heart was torn apart over Kristin's death, he found peace looking in Layna's eyes; he wanted that peace for his daughter._

_--- "Alexandra."_

_She smiled at him._

_--- "You're going to rename her after me?"_

_He nodded his head. _

_--- "I want my daughter to bear the name of someone who means more to me than most things in this world."_

_Layna kissed Andreus. They wrapped themselves in each others arms before making wild and passionate love again._

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_As she sat on the plane to Port Charles, she knew that she needed to meet his daughter. She wanted to see the woman who was about to get a piece of her father over twenty years later. Layna could not help but feel as though she deprived Alexandra of that fortune for a large part of her life. _

_Unfortunately, the fates would have it that upon landing in Port Charles, her heart gave out. Layna remained on life support ever since; the doctors were less than optimistic that she would make any recovery._

**************************************

Stavros sat in his office staring at a picture of Nikolas.

--- "If it weren't for that greedy bitch, none of this would've happened. She's taken so much from me! She's taken so much from this family! You weren't supposed to be dead! I'll avenge you, my son; I'll kill each one of her children in front of her before ridding this world of that b!tch."

One of his men walked into the room.

--- "Sir?"

Stavros looked angrily up at the man; he resented the intrusion.

--- "WHAT?!"

--- " We've captured the women."

He felt his heart leap.

--- "Where are they now?"

--- "In the same room you kept Mr. Corinthos for all of those months."

Stavros laughed.

--- "Well, that's ironic, isn't it? The mob boss dies in there, and now his daughter, her sisters, and b!tch mother get to do the same. That's lovely."

--- "Would you like to see them?"

He shook his head amusingly.

--- "No, there are a few more things that need to fall into place first before I visit them. Please feed them whatever they want; I want their last meal to be enjoyable."

The man nodded his head and left the room. Stavros turned his chair around and looked out of the window at the clear sky.

--- "Ah, Nikolas, your death will be avenged and your son will not be deprived of what should have been rightfully his."

**************************************

_My daughters, _

_I write this letter to you knowing that you will find each other again someday._

_I apologize for all of the pain and strife in your life. While I'm certain that Kristina, you have not suffered the way that Natasha has, I apologize to you nonetheless because you were deprived the right to know your sister; you were deprived of your mother. I suppose one can also say that you were deprived of having me in your life, although I would not call it a deprivation, but rather a gift seeing as I have proved that I am incapable of caring for my children._

_Natasha is a clear example of this failure on my part. Natasha, I allowed you to grow up in a household where you were treated less than the dirt under our shoes. You were cursed at, beaten, and fed the scraps from the table as though you were some animal; the animals were treated better than you were. As my daughter, my only daughter, I should have done something to prevent this mistreatment. Because of my cowardice, I did not._

_I want you both to know that you meant more to me than I ever showed you. In death, I hope that I can give some solace in knowing how my actions were an attempt to protect you._

_I love you from the moon to the sun, and from the sun to infinity._

_Mikkos._

**************************************

The gates closed behind the ambulance after it passed through. The men stepped out and wheeled the gurney inside.

He walked over to the men, and looked at the unconscious man lying on the stretcher.

--- "Ah, I've been waiting for you!"

He nodded his head for the men to take the stretcher to the designated room.

He walked to the refreshment table and poured himself a glass of wine. He swished it around the glass, smelled and tasted it. This was going to be a very interesting night.


	36. Wheels

I'm sorry for the long wait. Life is getting to that point of psychosis and stress with school, I'm getting some serious writer's block, and have just a lack of desire and inspiration with the story. I don't know what's going on! As a result, this story WILL end at forty.

Please let me know what you think about this chapter because it's written partially under the influence of cold medication, and a call from my muse that only had one bar signal of strength… **PLEASE** LET ME KNOW IF IT'S TOTAL CRAP AND BASICALLY WHAT YOU THINK.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

**Wheels**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Mac was standing in General Hospital screaming at the nurses' desk.

--- "What the hell do you mean you never got a call about an emergency! The ambulance and paramedics picked up Lucky Spencer! His children and nephew were kidnapped, and he was assaulted! I called in for the ambulance, myself!"

Epiphany looked at the call log for the paramedics.

--- "I'm sorry Commissioner Scorpio, but there's nothing here."

--- "There has to be! Look again!"

Mac's cell began to ring.

--- "Commissioner Scorpio—"

He listened to the person on the line.

--- "I'll be right there!"

Mac ran out of the hospital, leaving Epiphany perplexed. He got on his walkie-talkie.

--- "I want the ambulance that picked up Lucky Spencer found!"

**************************************

_Layna had been forced to marry Stefanos Karides; it was an arranged marriage for which she was not ready. She had managed to put him off for a week after they were married, but he was fed up._

_--- "I'm tired of this."_

_He walked into the room he and she shared; she was asleep on one of the twin-sized beds. He pushed his bed towards hers; the sound woke her up. _

_--- "What are you doing?"_

_--- "I'm going to make love to my wife."_

_She was a young inexperienced woman who knew that she did not love, let alone was in love, with this man; she did not want this._

_--- "No!"_

_He pulled her by the wrist up from the bed._

_--- "I'm sorry, my dear, but you're my wife. You don't have a say."_

_She knew there was nothing that she could do to stop him from having his way with her. Society's view at that time was that women were subservient to their husbands. As dismayed as she may have been, she had taken a vow to love, cherish, and obey this man; she had no other choice but to abide by those vows as disgusted as she may have been._

_She refused to allow him to take her by force; she would not lose her self-respect. She stared him in the eyes as she removed her dress and underwear. She stood before him naked and vulnerable._

_--- "Do with me what you like, but I will never love you."_

_She lied down onto the bed and waited for him to take her._

_He stared at her naked body for a few moments before removing his own clothes. _

_--- "That's fine; you may not ever love me, but believe me, I do not need you to."_

_There was no kissing nor sweet caresses; he simply laid his body on top of hers, roughly entered her, taking no heed to the pain that seared between her innocent legs. He thrusted quickly for several moments until he felt a release._

_She stared up to the ceiling the entire time as tears rolled down her eyes. _

_This was the nature of her relationship with her husband. While she hated this man, she cherished her sons who were created from act devoid of love. _

**************************************

Jason continued pacing as Spinelli continued to research something about the mystery of the Alexander/ Davidovitch relationship to Alexis.

--- "Okay, I think it's pretty obvious that this Davidovitch guy and Mikkos were the same person. The question is who this woman is, and how she plays into everything. Mikkos left everything to his sons—"

Spinelli cut him off as he smiled at his computer.

--- "No, Stone Cold! The Dualist One devised the CASSIDINE estate to his sons—"

Jason stared at him.

--- "Are you telling me that he split the estates? Why the hell would he do that?!"

Jason's phone began to ring.

--- "Morgan."

The voice on the end of the other line was raspy and strained.

--- "He-help. Kid-kidnapped."

Although the person was clearly having a hard time speaking on the line, Jason somewhat recognized it.

--- "Tommy?"

He was one of the guards stationed outside of the lake house.

--- "Gone."

The line went dead. Jason's inner alarms went off.

--- "Spinelli, keep researching; I have to go."

Jason ran out of the office and did something he never thought he would.

--- "Mac, you need to get to the lake house, right now!"

**************************************

_--- "Let me explain something to you: if you help me, Alexis and her bastards will die; if you do not help me, Alexis and her bastards will die. So, it does not appear that your decision matters in any way shape or form. Either way, I'm going to do what I want to do."_

_Stavros was so smug as he spoke. Human life meant nothing to him. He was the epitome of the saying that "money was truly the root of all evil." _

_--- "So why do you want my help?"_

_Stavros chuckled as he poured himself a drink._

_--- "The more the merrier."_

_--- "That's it? 'The more the merrier?' That's all you have to say? You're standing here asking me to help you kill Alexis, and her daughters, and all you have to say is that?"_

_Stavros did not reply. He just stood there looking amused._

_--- "Who cares about the money?!"_

_Stavros turned his back and looked out of the window._

_--- "It's not a matter of money. It's a matter of principle, of birthright! I'm the heir. My son is the heir. His son is the heir. The Cassidine family is led by men—"_

_He shook his head._

_--- "You're not—"_

_Stavros threw his glass against the wall and leapt on him. His hands squeezed tightly around his neck as though he might break it._

_--- "I don't EVER want to hear you say something like that again! That man was NOT my father! I was born into a sacred union! Unlike that b!tch Alexis, I was not the result of some filthy tryst with a homewrecking whore."_

_He nodded his head in defeat. He knew that it would be more prudent if he abided by Stavros' requests. He struggled to get the words out._

_--- "I will help you."_

_Stavros tightened his grip around his neck once more, before he loosened it._

_--- "Good."_

_He walked out of the room leaving him to gasp for air._

**************************************

Agent Raynor got into his car and headed to the meeting point. He found the driver to the second car awaiting his arrival.

--- "Are they there?"

The man nodded his head.

--- "Everyone?"

--- "Yes."

Raynor rubbed his face. He could not believe that the end was quickly approaching.

--- "Okay, let's go."

The driver opened the door to let him into the darkly tinted car.

Once inside, Raynor pulled out his cell phone and dialed; he waited for the appropriate response before speaking.

--- "Move."

**************************************

_She was still weak, but she had managed after all of these months to get up from the bed without anyone's knowledge. She knew that everything was coming to a head and she had to be there to see it through._

_She slowly removed the IV they had inserted into her arm, and unhooked the monitor. She hobbled out of the bed, and changed as quickly as she could into the clothes that she had been admitted in all those months ago. For as small as she had been then, she was even smaller now. Her body was practically emaciated; she was almost unrecognizable and her clothes were rather large on her frail body._

_After she finished dressing, she slowly opened the door and peaked out; there was no one in sight. She casually walked out of the room, so as to not call attention to herself. As she walked down the hall towards the elevators, she noticed a sign outside of a patient's room. She looked around before making her way to it. She could not believe the irony._

_--- "That b!tch."_

**************************************

Alexis looked over at Molly and Kristina.

--- "They've been asleep for a long time."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Mom, they're smaller than us—"

--- "Krissy's not that much smaller than you Sam, and you're awake."

Sam took her mother's hand into her.

--- "Mom, I'm also pregnant. I clearly weigh more than she does right now. I don't think those idiots gave us doses for our sizes; I think it's obvious they just gave us whatever they wanted. And since Krissy and Molly are smaller, they're going to be knocked out a bit longer. I actually think it's better this way—"

Alexis knew what her daughter meant.

--- "I guess you're right; at least they don't have to sit here and be terrified about what might happen to us."

--- "Mom, don't talk like that—"

Alexis stood up and paced the room. It was a plain room with no windows. She had no sense of time in there, and therefore had no idea as to how long they had been imprisoned.

--- "Honey, I have every intention of fighting like hell to get us out of this mess, but I'm also being realistic. Now, trust me, and I don't want any argument from you on this, I will do whatever I have to do to save you girls—"

--- "Mom—"

Alexis put her hand up.

--- "No, Sam. There is no way in hell that I'm going to allow any of you to be hurt or even worse, to be killed. I told you, I'm willing to give my life to save my children. Honey, you're about to be a mother; I think you understand."

Sam began to tear up again.

--- "Mom, I understand what you're saying, believe me, I do, but I'm not willing to lose you."

Alexis walked back over to her eldest daughter.

--- "And believe me, honey, I'm going to fight like hell to ensure that I don't lose you or your sisters. I'm not giving up without a fight."

Sam hated the fact that her pregnancy had made her emotional.

--- "Ugh… damn tears."

Alexis laughed and wiped them from Sam's face.

--- "Now, if we're going to fight to get through this, let's think about what we're dealing with."

--- "Okay. Well, I think it's obvious that Layna Alexander and Andreus Davidovitch meant something to each other. And for whatever reason Mikkos became Andreus—"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Well, if you had a witch of a wife like Helena who killed your first mistress in cold blood in front of her young kid, I think a smart businessman like my father learned his lesson on being a bit more inconspicuous."

Sam rolled her eyes.

--- "Tell me about it."

Alexis shook her head in disbelief.

--- "You know, honey, I remember when he died and they forced me back to Greece for the funeral and the reading of the will. I had no idea what the purpose of all that was because at that point I had no idea that he was my father, and he had been distant, for lack of a better word, towards me throughout my childhood. Well, I was sitting there, as they read the will, thinking about what I would end up doing with the rest of my life now that my benefactor was gone; I had to figure out how I would survive."

--- "How old were you?"

Alexis smiled sadly.

--- "I was sixteen. God, it's funny; the irony of it all was that he died a few months after I gave birth to you and he made me give you up. I know that I can't go back and change anything now, and I would never wish ill on the dead, but if he had died before you were born, I could've raised you, honey."

Sam laughed at the silly joke of fate.

--- "Wow. Everything would have been different, that's for sure."

Alexis nodded in agreement, and passed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

--- "Yup. I'm just glad that we found each other anyway. I'll always regret the things that happened in your life, but I love the person that you are regardless; I don't ever want you to forget that."

--- "I won't, Mom."

--- "Good. Now, where was I? Okay… well, I thought about what I was going to end up doing with my life now that Mikkos was gone, and then I heard my name."

Sam was shocked; she did not expect that Mikkos had left her mother anything, especially not after she shamed the family with her pregnancy.

--- "He left you something?"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "No. He left some postscript that said something about me never being forgotten."

Sam smiled as she thought about what Mac had revealed earlier.

--- "Well, I guess he wasn't joking. Mom, you're the heir to both estates—"

This was the part that Alexis was still having a hard time understanding.

--- "See, that's what I'm not grasping. I mean, he left everything to that Alexander woman—"

--- "Not to mention naming you after her—"

Alexis snapped her fingers.

--- "Yea! What is that? So, it's obvious that he was with this woman while my mother was still alive, and instead of sending me off like he did my sister, he decided that he would name me after his mistress, and then 'raise me' in that pack of wolves, where I was treated like crap for years. Then, for whatever reason he splits his estate into two, leaves one part to his mistress, and then another part to Helena, and NOW I hear that I'm the heir to BOTH estates! None of this makes any sense."

Sam was beyond confused by everything.

--- "Mom, you're a lawyer, there has to be something that we're not seeing here. A lawyer obviously drafted the Wills, so this is obviously possible. Without even thinking about the fact that he split the estates, how is it that he was able to have us be the heir to the estate when he left it to Helena and Layna? – God, way to pick em, their names are practically similar."

Alexis' specialty was not in wills and probate law, so she tried to think about what she had learned in school.

--- "Okay… um… he left both estates to these women, but Mac is telling me that I'm the heir right?"

Sam nodded her head. While her mother entered her legal mode, she began to think as a private investigator.

--- "So why wouldn't you have gotten the estate from the time that he died? I mean, why would you end up being the guardian of the Cassidine estate when you're actually the heir to it?"

--- "I don't know. The Davidovitch—"

Sam cut her mother off.

-- "Mom, let's not focus on the Davidovitch estate because you didn't even know that existed. Right now, think about the Cassidine estate and what happened with that. What else can you remember about the day Mikkos' Will was read?"

Alexis began to pace as she thought back almost thirty years.

--- "Um, I don't know. I told you I was so wrapped up in thinking about what I was going to do with my life now that he was gone. I was thinking about you, and how I wanted to keep you but I couldn't—"

Sam managed to stand up. She grabbed her mother.

--- "Mom. Focus. What do you remember about the reading of the will? What did the will say?"

Alexis stared at Sam for a few moments before a memory seemed to flash through her mind.

--- "The will said that Helena was given the entirety of the Cassidine estate for the—"

Sam grabbed Alexis' hands.

--- "For the what, Mom?"

Alexis looked at her and smiled.

--- "For the remainder of her life."

Sam frowned.

--- "But that doesn't answer why you're the guardian to the estate until Spencer becomes of age."

Alexis shook her head as she continued to smile.

--- "Honey, it's a technical term, but Mikkos gave Helena what's called a Life Estate. It basically means that while she's alive, she's able to do whatever she wants with what was given to her, but when she dies—"

Sam began to understand what her mother was saying.

--- "The estate goes to—"

Alexis nodded.

--- "Me."

Sam covered her mouth in shock.

--- "Mom, does this mean that she's dead? Or maybe that she's dying?"

--- "Who's dying? Where are we?"

It was a voice from across the room. The women looked and noticed that Kristina was now awake. Alexis ran over to her and checked her up and down.

--- "Sweetheart, are you okay? Do you feel alright?"

Kristina grabbed her mother's hands.

--- "Mom, I'm fine. I guess a little tired, but I'm fine. Where are we?"

--- "Krissy, I don't know."

Kristina attempted to stand up, but she felt quite weak; Alexis helped her back down onto the ground.

--- "Sweetheart, please, just go back to sleep."

Kristina was nervous and scared as she remembered the way in which her family was kidnapped.

--- "Mom, how can I go back to sleep! Are you okay? They hit you."

She reached up and touched her mother's now visibly bruised face. Alexis covered her daughter's hand with her own.

--- "Krissy, I'm fine. Please don't worry about me, okay? I'm worried more about you. Now, please just go back to sleep."

Kristina looked to Sam who was standing behind her mother and nodding her head.

--- "Krissy, listen to Mom, okay? Just go to sleep. Whatever happens, you need your strength."

Kristina was visibly terrified. She looked over to Molly who was still asleep on the ground beside her. She nodded her head in compliance; it was not as though she had much of a choice, her head was pounding and she felt wiped out.

--- "Okay."

Alexis gave her a kiss on the head.

--- "That's my good girl."

Kristina put her head down on her mother's lap and fell right back to sleep. Alexis looked up at Sam and spoke in a hushed tone so as to not alarm her middle daughter.

--- "Honey, I don't know if Helena's dead, but I'll tell you one thing I remember; there's a separate document somewhere that Mikkos left for her."

Sam eased her way back to the floor to sit beside her mother and sisters.

--- "And whatever that document said, I guarantee we'll find out what the hell is going on here. I have a feeling that Helena's not doing too well and someone isn't too happy about that."

Alexis leaned her head back against the wall as she stroked Kristina's hair. She looked over at her youngest baby fast asleep beside her without a care in the world. Then she looked at her eldest daughter carrying her granddaughter.

--- "I wish this person knew that I would give the money up in a second if that meant that we were safe."

**************************************

_He approached the man seated in the park looking at old newspaper clippings._

_--- "There's nothing you can do for her anymore, but I can help you avenge her death."_

_Eric looked at the man._

_--- "I'm sorry, but what are you talking about."_

_The man pointed to the newspaper clippings concerning the disappearance and death of Jessica Linfield._

_--- "Your sister, Eric. There's nothing that you can do for her anymore—"_

_Eric lunged at him._

_--- "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY SISTER!? DO YOU KNOW WHO KILLED HER!?"_

_The man fought back and pushed Eric off of him._

_--- "Relax! I didn't know your sister, but I can help you!"_

_Eric relented._

_--- "What do you want from me?"_

_The man fixed his suit; he hated being wrinkled._

_--- "Look, I happen to know that the man responsible for everything is headed to Port Charles. I need you to keep an eye out on his next target."_

_Eric was an officer in his town._

_--- "How am I supposed to do that? I'm just a small town cop and Port Charles is a bit out of my jurisdiction."_

_The man reached in his briefcase and pulled out some files._

_--- "Not anymore. You're now part of the FBI, and your name is Kevin." _

_Eric was dumbfounded._

_--- "What the hell? How—"_

_--- "Don't worry about the how, you just read your file about your identity; learn it, and forget about Eric, for now. You need to stop this man from taking his next victim."_

_This was a lot for Eric to take. He flipped through the thick file._

_--- "Who's his next victim, and why do you care?"_

_The man stared at him sternly; he did not like people asking him questions._

_--- "Her name is Kristina. I'll be in touch."_

_As he began to walk away, Eric called out to him._

_--- "Wait! Who is she? Please?! Is she your daughter?"_

_He stopped walking and turned around to face this inquisitive man._

_--- "She's someone special."_

**************************************

Mac and Jason arrived at the lake house almost simultaneously; they were shocked to discover that all of the stationed guards were dead.

--- "What the hell happened here!?"

Mac quickly looked over the crime scene and radioed in for clean-up.

--- "They were all shot from a distance."

Jason nodded in agreement.

--- "I don't think the girls are here anymore."

Mac's heart fell at the thought that Alexis and her daughters were taken.

--- "Oh God—"

He and Jason ran into the house; sure enough the house was as empty as they had suspected.

--- "DAMN IT! Where the hell could they be!?"

Jason looked around the room and walked out of the house.

--- "Jason! Where are you going?"

Jason looked at the porch light and opened his phone.

--- "Spinelli, get the video from the lake house surveillance. I want to know what car approached Alexis' house; they're all missing."

Mac walked out and stared at Jason.

--- "You've got surveillance on that son of a bitch?"

Jason nodded his head.

--- "Do you have a problem with that?"

--- "No. We need to save the women we love. I don't care how we do it, I just want them safe. This bastard stepped his game up; he's got Spencer, Cameron and Jake—"

Jason felt as though an anvil had dropped in the pit of his stomach, but he knew he could not respond. Mac continued undeterred by Jason's change in demeanor.

--- "And now, I'm almost certain that they've taken Lucky."

--- "Lucky and all the boys? Why the hell would they take them?"

Mac shook his head.

--- "I have no idea."

**************************************

_She saw him standing before him looking as handsome as he was the last time she had seen him. A gasp slipped from her mouth. He stood before her smiling. As she ran to him, as close as he appeared to be, she never seemed to make it to him. He held his hand up._

_--- "Wait."_

_She stopped running to him only to realize that he seemed further away than when she had begun to run to him. She stared at him again. He smiled at her._

_--- "Soon."_

******************************************

**If you haven't already done so, please check out and review the next story, L'AMOUR EXISTE ENCORE. It's a MacLexis/ JaSam romance… it's a complete opposite to DJV and EuF. It's humorous in a Meliora way…**


	37. Convergence

Gobble Gobble Canadians! (I know it's the middle of the night and technically not TG anymore, but darn it, you've a new chapter! You're welcome!)

_**Someone made an excellent observation in her review a couple of chapters ago…**_

_**Demon… ye of little faith.**_

Quickly reread and edited… and I'm still overdosing on cold medication… Please forgive the errors.

Thanks again to my faithful reviewers… I want to hear from others as well though…

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

**Convergence**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_She hobbled out of the hospital bed to the awaiting car of her most loyal servant._

_--- "Take me to them."_

_--- "With pleasure."_

_The driver helped her into the car, walked around, and got into the car. He began the drive to the Manor._

**************************************

Sam was getting restless; waiting had never been a strong suit of hers.

--- "Oh my goodness, I'm losing my mind right now!"

Alexis had been trying to think about who might be after them; her head had begun to hurt.

--- "Tell me about it."

Sam uncomfortably moved in her spot on the floor. They had been sitting in the room for two hours, although it seemed like an eternity to the women; nobody had come to inquire about them. Alexis looked at her pregnant daughter worriedly.

--- "Sam, honey, are you okay?"

She had begun to feel a dull aching in her lower back, but she did not want to say anything to her mother so as not to worry her. Unfortunately, she knew that if the aching continued, Alexis would quickly notice the look of discomfort on her face. Instead, Sam smiled and put on a brave front, hoping that her mother would not realize what was bothering her.

--- "Yea, I'm fine. It's just my butt hurts sitting here. I mean, really, couldn't this asshole have put us someplace more appealing? At least the last time I was held hostage it was at a nice hotel. You just don't go from a first class hostage crisis to coach, Mom."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

--- "Well, I'm glad to see your sense of humor hasn't been affected by all of this."

Sam studied her mother for a few moments. Alexis noticed, and looked at her daughter questioningly.

--- "What's wrong with you? Do I have a something on my face?"

She began to wipe the imaginary smudge from her face. Sam laughed at her mother.

--- "We're stuck in this hell hole, and you're concerned about something being on your face? How vain are you, Mom!?"

Alexis smiled.

--- "Shut up. You were staring at me!"

--- "I was just thinking that it was amazing that I never noticed the resemblance between us before, until now. Like, I might be shorter than you—"

Alexis scoffed.

--- "Really, honey? I never noticed that height difference at all. I mean, sometimes I hear a voice talking to me, and I'm not exactly sure where it's coming from until I look down, but I figured that had nothing to do with your height… I was wearing heels that day—"

Sam smacked her mother's arm.

--- "Hey!"

Alexis laughed at her daughter.

--- "Honey, thou shall respect thy mother; it's one of the Ten Commandments."

Sam shook her head.

--- "Mom, do you even OWN a bible?"

--- "Whatever—"

--- "And that's what I thought. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, it's amazing to me how much Molly and I look alike, and how we somewhat resemble you. Kristina looks somewhat like Sonny, but the resemblance is still there—"

Alexis looked at her daughter.

--- "You're wondering what Niki—"

--- "Dani—"

Alexis touched her daughter's pregnant belly.

--- "What Niki—"

On cue the baby kicked her grandmother's hand causing Alexis to wink at her daughter.

--- "That's right pumpkin head, you know your name."

Sam rolled her eyes. Alexis moved her hand from Sam's belly to her daughter's face.

--- "You're wondering what this little one is going to look like?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "I know that I never saw Lila, but I have a feeling that she would've looked like you."

Alexis smiled.

--- "Like me? God, that poor child—"

--- "Oh please Mom, you're gorgeous! The Davis girls are a hot bunch!"

--- "And Lila wouldn't have been an exception."

Sam wiped a tear that had escaped from her eye.

--- "No she wouldn't have been."

Alexis put her arm around her daughter; Sam leaned in and put her head on her mother's shoulder. Alexis looked around her; all three of her girls were attached to her: Sam's head was on her shoulder, Kristina slept with her head on her lap, and Alexis passed her hand along Molly's back. She thought about the lonely childhood she had.

--- "You know, honey, when I was a kid, I never thought that I would have a real family. Helena never failed to remind me that I was just a charity case, Stavros treated me worse than he did the servants, and let me tell you, that says something, and Mikkos was distant—"

Sam, who continued to think of ways to take her mind off of the dull aches, looked up at her mother.

--- "What about Stefan?"

Alexis smiled at the memory of her older brother.

--- "He was the good one. He was the only one who ever cared about me. It's because of him that I went to law school. He took care of me."

--- "So you were close?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Even before I knew that he was my brother, I had always thought of him that way. He protected me from Stavros and Helena. I'll always regret that we had drifted apart some time before he died, but I'll always love him."

There was a moment of silence in the room, as though meant to acknowledge the dead.

--- "Mom?"

--- "Hmm?"

--- "What did you look like as a kid?"

Alexis thought about her miserable childhood.

--- "God, I was tall and scrawny, and pretty quiet, which is why Helena called me mouse. I was like a church mouse, I guess; I scurried around the house quickly and quietly. Whenever Helena or Stavros came after me, I either took their abuse quietly, or just ran away and hid until they were out of sight. I had rather long hair at one point, but Stavros spit gum into it, and Helena chopped it off in the ugliest pageboy cut. Stefan tried to fix it for me, but he only made it worse. I was just not the prettiest kid—"

Sam looked at her mother.

--- "I seriously doubt that."

It never ceased to amaze Alexis how different Sam had become throughout the years; She loved the closeness she shared with her daughter. Five years prior, Sam would have felt awkward resting her head on her mother's shoulder. One year before that, Sam was struggling with the end of her relationship with Jason, and realizing that despite his loss in her life, she still had a family that loved her; that was when she had begun to call Alexis, Mom, for the first time. And a year before that, the mother and daughter were hardly on speaking terms with each other. Alexis kissed the top of Sam's head.

--- "I love you so much, honey."

Sam wrapped her arms around her mother.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

Despite their current predicament, Alexis could not help but feel like the luckiest woman on earth.

--- "Mom?"

--- "Hmm?"

Sam struggled to hold her laughter.

--- "Um, I have to pee."

Alexis looked at her daughter, then around the room.

--- "Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, honey, but I think that bucket in the corner, you know, with the toilet seat on top of it, is supposed to be the 'john.'"

Sam stared at the makeshift toilet in disgust.

--- "You have GOT to be kidding me."

**************************************

_Eric, or Kevin as he was to be known, walked into the Federal Building, nervously. He took the elevator up to the seventeenth floor. He pulled out the business card the man had handed him in the park, and walked up to the reception area._

_--- "How may I help you sir?"_

_He cleared his throat._

_--- "Hello. My name is Kevin Lin- [ahem] Little, I'm here to see—"_

_A man walked out with his hand outstretched._

_--- "Kevin Little? Hello, I'm Agent Thomas Raynor."_

_Kevin took his hand and shook it firmly. He smiled anxiously, unsure as to whether or not this man had known his true identity and under what conditions he had become part of the investigation of Henry Geoffrey Leon, III, otherwise known as Leonard H. Jeffries, otherwise known as the sorry son of a b!tch who was responsible for his sister's death._

_Agent Raynor lead him to an office and closed the door behind them. He sat down as the agent thumbed through a file on the desk._

_--- "Your file is superb Mr. Little. You were the top of your class at the academy? Excellent. Your scores on the exam are off the charts. You, sir, will be an asset to this agency."_

_Kevin let out a sigh of relief as the plan had gone off easier than he had ever suspected it would._

_--- "Okay, good."_

_Agent Raynor studied him for a few moments before speaking._

_--- "The case we're working on is quite intricate."_

_Raynor could not let it be known to Kevin that he knew of his identity; he did not want the young man to become too comfortable in the position he was placed. _

_--- "I don't know how much time we have to get this man, Jeff, but I do know that he's headed to Port Charles for a specific purpose—"_

_Kevin nodded his head as he quickly reread the file; it was the same one that the man in the park had given him._

_--- "To find young girls for his child prostitution rings."_

_Agent Raynor looked at the picture of his sons on the desk._

_--- "Yes. Whatever happens, we cannot allow him to take another person's daughter."_

_Eric looked up from the file and stared at Agent Raynor. He nodded his head emphatically._

_--- "I promise you, sir; I will do everything in my power to ensure that this man does not take or kill another young girl."_

**************************************

Although Mac would not have normally worked with Jason on anything, but he knew that if he wanted to find Alexis and her family, along with Lucky, it was essential that the PCPD work together with Jason and Spinelli.

--- "Spinelli, what have you found?"

--- "The Nefarious Henchmen took the Damsels in a dark van—"

--- "Did you get the license plate number?"

--- "ZZQ 0010."

Mac's men plugged the number into the system and shook his head.

--- "There's no registration linked to that license plate number."

Mac and Jason paced the room.

--- "Did you see where the van was headed?"

--- "Well the last image I acquired, the van was headed north on Lake View Terrace, and turned right onto Harbour View Road—"

Jason knew Spinelli was holding back; there was no way that he would ever stop his search without finding out what happened on Harbour View.

--- "Spinelli what aren't you saying?"

Mac got in Spinelli's face.

--- "Look, I already know, JACKAL, that you probably got more footage, and you're just waiting for us to get out of here so you can share it with Jason here. Let me tell you something, I don't care how you got the information, hell, you could've gotten it from the devil himself, at this point, I'm only concerned about getting Alexis and her family, including Lucky and his kids back safe!"

Spinelli nodded his head.

--- "I think I got their location up until the highway."

Mac pointed to another of his officers.

--- "Get highway patrol on the phone; we need the video surveillance!"

Within a few minutes, Mac, Jason, along with over a dozen PCPD were silently driving toward the Alexander Manor.

**************************************

_After Kevin Little, or Eric Linfied died from the stab wound he suffered while attempting to save Kristina Davis, along with any other potential young girl, from child prostitution, Agent Raynor was shocked to discover that Will, Kevin's partner had gone rogue and helped Jeff escape from federal prison. What was more puzzling to Raynor, was the fact that this man, who had made an allegiance to protect civilians had helped a pedophile kidnap a just turned eight-year old Molly Davis._

_Agent Raynor was angry that Kevin, who only wanted to be able to avenge his sister's death, had become Jeff's latest victim; it was unfair. Raynor went back to the Federal building and ransacked Will's desk and locker for some sort of clue as to what either Jeff or he were up to in kidnapping Molly. He had not been told about this; he had not been told that Molly would be targeted next._

_As he searched Will's locker, he discovered an envelope addressed to the Linfields. Raynor's interest peaked; there was no reason why Will should have made any contact with the family, unless he had become aware of Kevin's true identity. He opened the envelope and pulled out the short letter._

"_Dear Linfield Family,_

_Eric's death did not go for naught; your son and daughter's murders has been avenged._

_Will."_

_That was the extent of the letter. Raynor turned the paper over to see if there had been anything else written; there was._

"_This letter is a copy for the file of the FBI. Agent Raynor, I apologize for having caused the Agency such trouble due to my involvement in this, but I could not allow Kevin's death to be meaningless. Please accept my sincerest apologies. Jeff will be handled tonight; I vow that the child will not be hurt."_

_Raynor put the note back where he had found out and made his way to the lake house._

**************************************

Stavros walked into the room he had set up for his grandson. Spencer was sitting at the window seat looking out at the vast amount of land on the property.

--- "My grandson, what are you doing?"

--- "I'm looking out the window."

Stavros sat beside him on the seat.

--- "When we get to Greece, you will be amazed at how much more beautiful the view is."

Spencer moved from the seat to the bed.

--- "I don't want to go to Greece. I want to stay with Uncle Lucky—"

It took everything in Stavros to not scream at the sound of his grandson referring to a Spencer as his family.

--- "I'm sorry, Sp-[ahem] my grandson, but Lucky cannot take care of you anymore."

Spencer wanted to cry; he did not understand why he continued to lose the people who meant the world to him.

--- "Then I want Aunt Alexis and Sam."

Stavros could not contain his rage at the sound of those venomous creatures coming from his grandson's mouth.

--- "THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR FAMILY! I AM YOUR FAMILY!"

Spencer cowered in fear as this man, whom he had never seen before screamed at him. He had never been yelled at; he did not know what else to do, but apologize.

--- "I'm sorry."

Stavros seeing the terror in the child's face immediately regretted his outburst.

--- "No, Christian, I'm sorry—"

The little boy looked at the man oddly; he was not family with the name.

--- "My name is Spencer—"

Stavros shook his head.

--- "I'm sorry, but we Cassidines do not name our children after filth."

The child did not know what to make of this man who claimed to be his grandfather; he was frightened that he would never see his family again and would instead be forced to remain with this scary man.

--- "I want to go home."

Stavros walked up to the child, who shook like a leaf with each step he took closer to him.

--- "Don't be frightened Christian, I would never hurt you. Don't worry, in a few hours, you and I will be on a flight home."

He tapped the child's leg before walking out of the room.

Spencer shook his head.

--- "This is my home."

The door locked from the outside.

**************************************

Molly began to stir in her sleep.

--- "Mommy?"

Kristina was still asleep with her head in her mother's lap. Alexis reached over and past her hand on Molly's back to let her daughter know that she was beside her.

--- "Baby, I'm right here."

Molly shot up from her sleep. She began to scream as she recalled her family being attacked in their home. Alexis had hoped that the girls would not have remembered the incident, but luck did not seem to be on her family's side during the past year. She moved Kristina, who had been awakened by her sister's screaming from her.

--- "Baby, come here, come to Mommy."

Molly continued to scream hysterically, but moved into her mother's arms as asked. Alexis rocked her young daughter back and forth.

--- "It's okay, we're safe right now, baby. Mommy's here with you, okay? We're safe."

Kristina and Sam looked from each other to their mother; Alexis sadly looked at her girls knowing what they were thinking: there was no way to tell for how long they would be safe.

Kristina looked at her sister.

--- "Sam, what are we going to do?"

For the first time in a very long time, Sam did not have an answer. Alexis looked down at Molly who had fallen back asleep.

--- "We're going to fight like hell. Now, I already told Sam, and I'm going to tell you this, Kristina: Whatever happens, I want you to do as I say, okay? If I tell you to run and leave me behind, sweetheart, I want you to do it—"

--- "But Mom—"

Alexis shook her head and stared at her daughter.

--- "Kristina, I'm not going to allow anything to happen to you girls. I don't want you to worry about me—"

Sam looked down at Molly sleeping in her mother's arms.

--- "Mom, that's easier said than done. We need you just as much as you need us—"

Alexis understood where her girls were coming from, but she needed them to understand that they did not have much of a choice in the matter. She reached out her free hand for both girls to take; they did.

--- "And that's why I'm willing to give my life, if I have to, to save yours. Please don't get me wrong here; I have no intention of giving up, okay? I'm telling you that we're all going to fight, because we're Davis women. We've been put through enough crap the past year, hell, Sam and I have dealt with life's garbage for all of our lives, and that strength is in you Kristina, and Molly here; we're going to be fine. I just want you to be aware that if the decision has to be made—"

Both girls were in tears; Alexis felt hers burning her eyes, but she refused to break.

--- "If the choice needs to be made to save yourselves or to save me, you had better save yourselves. I want you to help each other first, do you hear me?"

Kristina looked at Sam, who was looking down at her stomach. Alexis put her hand on her daughter's stomach.

--- "Sam, I know that this is hard, but Niki needs you to listen to me. She can't fight for herself; you have to fight for her."

A tear fell from Sam's face and landed on her mother's hand. Alexis lifted her daughter's chin and made her look at her.

--- "Honey, you fight for Niki the way that I'm fighting for you girls."

With her heart tearing in two, Sam nodded her head. Alexis passed her hand on her daughter's cheek. She turned to Kristina who was also visibly upset.

--- "Krissy, I want you to make sure you listen to Sam, and you help her—"

--- "Mom, you're going to be fine!"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Sweetheart, I know that I am, but I want you to listen to me just in case something happens, okay? You need to listen to your sister and if necessary, you help her and Molly get the hell out of here."

Kristina took Sam's hand in her own.

--- "Okay."

Alexis hated to have such a discussion with her daughters, but she knew that anything could happen to them. Whoever had kidnapped them was without scruples; they were willing to do whatever it took to get rid of her and—

--- "Oh my God."

Sam stared at her mother.

--- "What?"

It was as though a lightbulb clicked in her mind.

--- "I think I just figured something out."

Sam and Kristina looked at each other then back to their mother waiting for her to tell them what she had realized.

--- "Sam, remember what I told you about the will?"

She nodded her head.

--- "That Helena would get the estate until she died, then it would go to you—"

--- "Yea, but what would happen once I died?"

Sam shrugged.

--- "I guess it would go to whomever you willed your estate?"

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Yes. And that would be you three—"

Kristina was confused by the entire conversation, but Sam seemed to be following her mother's reasoning.

--- "Wait, so this person has to be the next in line!"

--- "If I die, the estate goes to you girls, but if you three die—"

--- "Then there's presumed to be no one left because we don't have any other living relatives… but wait, Mom, that doesn't make any sense—"

Kristina looked from her mother to her sister before answering.

--- "Because Nikolas and Spencer are our family—"

Sam looked at her sister.

--- "But Nikolas is dead."

Alexis nodded sadly.

--- "But Spencer isn't."

Sam stared at her mother.

--- "And he's been taken—"

This was the first that Kristina had heard about her little cousin being kidnapped; she was shocked but knew that there was no point of making a big deal of it seeing as her sister and mother were in the middle of a revelation.

Alexis continued, but this time as though speaking more to herself rather than to the girls.

--- "So whoever took Spencer, had reason to know that he was the heir?"

--- "Helena would have known about the will because she was the one married to Mikkos, I mean, she didn't even know that he split the estate, but still—"

Alexis shook her head.

--- "I still don't believe that it was her. She's done a lot of malicious things in her life, Honey, but she doesn't harm children."

Sam was shocked.

--- "Mom, you just told me that she treated you horribly—"

--- "Honey, but she never tried to kill me. I don't think that she's even evil enough to do that—"

--- "Well, then who is?"

Suddenly the door to the room opened up; their captor stood before them. Alexis was certain that she had seen a ghost.

--- "Stavros?!"

Sam was just as shocked as her mother; she may not have ever met the man, but she was quite certain that the reason behind that was the fact that he was supposed to be dead.

--- "What?!"

Alexis felt an almost paralyzing fear enter her; if ever there were a person so ruthless as to hurt and kill children, it would have been the man before her. He smiled at her.

--- "That's all you have to say to greet me, dear bastard Alexandra?"

**************************************

When the driver pulled into the inconspicuous side entrance of the Alexander Manor, Agent Raynor felt as though he had returned home; while it had been years since he had returned there, he still knew it like the back of his hand. He had told the driver to go down a side road of which very few people were aware. He stepped out of the car and made his way to an even more remote entrance to the house.

**************************************

_Stavros stared at him._

_--- "The man Jeff is dead; now everything is practically ruined. I need a fresh start on my plans."_

_He had just agreed to help this man kill an entire family._

_--- "Why do you want my help!?"_

_Stavros smiled. _

_--- "Well, who would be better? Certainly no one would suspect that you would be the one to have caused the death of the lovely Davis Family! You're a man of the law! You helped save their lives, and you love one of them don't you?"_

_Stavros whispered the last part in mild amusement and disgust. He did not wait for his response before continuing._

_--- "You were so courageous tonight, how quickly you arrived at Alexis' side after Jeff had stabbed her! It was astounding. I really should have thought about using you before; that incompetent bastard was not incapable of accomplishing anything but getting his d!ck hard."_

_He looked at his captor in disgust._

_--- "Do you even know what you're asking me to do? You want me to help you kill your sister and your nieces."_

_Stavros smacked him in the face._

_--- "Don't you ever call that bitch my sister! She and her litter of children are nothing to me! I'm doing this world a favor by ridding it of her!"_

_He shook his head; he did not understand how someone could have so much hatred and rage in their hearts._

_--- "I'm not going to help you kill them—"_

_Stavros snapped his finger and a gun was put to the child's temple._

_--- "Shall I have him pull the trigger?"_

_He saw the look of terror in his young son's eyes._

_---- "It's okay, buddy—"_

_Stavros was growing impatient._

_--- "I'm tired of you hesitating! I already told you that I do not have a problem ending this child's life. MAKE YOUR DECISION!"_

_He was grateful that his son was incredibly young and would be unable to recount the events of the day. The child, however, saw the fearful look in his father's eyes and began to cry._

_Stavros reveled in the sight._

_--- "Ah, the child is upset. I don't particularly care to hear children cry—"_

_Stavros snapped his fingers once more; the gunman pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun going off filled the room._

_--- "NO!"_

_If he had not been tied to the chair, he would have leapt in front of the gun to have his life taken and spared his child's._

_Stavros began to laugh once more as the realization hit the man that the gun's chamber had been filled with a blank._

_--- "Now, are you willing to play this game, Mr. Spencer? We Russians like to play a lovely game of roulette."_

_Lucky looked at his terrified child and nodded his head._

_--- "I'll help you, but please don't hurt my son."_

**************************************

Now, go read **L'AMOUR EXISTE ENCORE! **If you liked my filler chapters for this and Déjà Vu, that story is up your alley. **GO REVIEW! Pretty Please!**

Carol, there will not be a third part to this series! Sorry! This is it… At least for now.


	38. Clockwork

LMAO Dee… "Holy Hell in a hand basket."

Carol: I considered writing a third part to this story (next semester or over the summer), but I don't want to try and write one and it doesn't live up to this one; this story was my BABY, and I don't want to mess with a good thing.

I so aptly named this "Encore Une Fois," directly meaning "One more time." So, unless I can really think of something that would take DJV and EuF to different heights, the end is near. :o(

But AGAIN, if you've not already done so, please read, enjoy, and REVIEW, the Romantic MacLexis Comedy, **L'Amour Existe Encore (LAEE).** Is it SamLexis, too? Um, DUH! LOL. Along with JaSam…

_Basically unedited… It's long and it's late… Oh well._

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

**Clockwork**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_**One hour prior**_

When he regained consciousness, Lucky found himself in a beautifully decorated bedroom.

--- "What the hell? Where the hell am I?"

Stavros stood in the room looking out the window.

--- "My, what a beautiful day."

Lucky stood up quickly, but found himself falling back onto the bed; his head was pounding from the blow he took.

--- "What the hell did you do to my boys, you son of a bitch?"

Stavros turned around faced his accuser.

--- "Oh, Mr. Spencer, you already know that the time has come."

Lucky shook his head; he could not believe what he was being forced to do.

--- "I'm not doing anything until you tell me where my kids are! Where's Spencer!?"

Stavros threateningly walked up to Lucky. He spoke to him through gritted teeth.

--- "I don't ever want to hear you call my grandson by the filthy name again! His name is Christian Nikolai Cassidine."

Lucky returned the same look of hatred.

--- "I want to see my kids!"

Stavros reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote control. He pressed a button causing a television to rise from the end of the bed. He pressed another and the television was turned on; Lucky saw his boys playing nicely in another room.

--- "Where are they?"

Stavros shut the television off.

--- "Ah, Mr. Spencer, have you not learned that you are not the one that asks questions? I'm the one leading this."

Lucky sat back on the bed and covered his face; he was desperate.

--- "Please—"

Stavros took pleasure in seeing a Spencer beg.

--- "Mr. Spencer, I will not be telling you where your sons are, but just know that as long as you do as I ask, they'll stay alive and breathing fresh air as opposed to poisonous gases. I believe that you should know that I mean what I say, and I say what I mean?"

Lucky thought back to the fateful day four months prior.

--- "Elizabeth."

Stavros walked around the room he had decorated with pictures of Alexis and her family. He stopped at a picture of Alexis and her three daughters with Nikolas and his grandson, the now named Christian. He grabbed the picture and tossed it against the wall.

--- "IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, MR. SPENCER, MY SON WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!"

For once, Lucky agreed with something that had come out of Stavros' mouth; if he had not lied to this maniacal man about Sam being alive, the mother of his children and his brother would still be alive. He had never felt more sorry than on the day lost those two people.

--- "You're right."

Stavros turned around quickly at the sound of Lucky's acquiescence.

--- "What did you say?"

--- "I said you were right. I'm the reason my brother's dead, and I'm the reason my sons don't have a mother. YOU'RE RIGHT! But there's nothing that I can do about that now!"

Stavros shook his head at the pitiful Spencer standing before him.

--- "You only have one option here! You must prove where your loyalties lie: with your children and the memories of their mother and your brother, whose blood you have on your hands, or with the gang of whores and bastards, the Davis family."

Lucky felt as though he had been smacked in the face.

--- "How am I supposed to help you kill them? Sam is carrying my baby!"

--- "Look, I don't have time to worry about your moral dilemma, Mr. Spencer. Either you kill those women, or your sons die. Those are the options. But I should warn you, I intend to ensure that the women die either way. You're merely making a choice of whether or not you want YOUR children to live or die along with them."

Lucky went to punch Stavros in the face but the man was stronger than he had imagined. Stavros grabbed Lucky's fist and with a swift motion, twisted his arm and knocked the detective on the ground. He kicked him hard in the ribs, before bending down and grabbing the man's face.

--- "Mr. Spencer, I hope you understand that I have no problems killing you, and leaving your sons to be my slaves. You might want to ask Alexandra about a life such as that. But I must warn you, I am in no way as kind as my mother. Your children will suffer more than Alexandra could have possibly imagined having suffered as a bastard child living in my father's house."

Lucky gasped for breath as the blow had knocked the air out of him. He nodded his head in compliance. Stavros smiled once again.

--- "I really don't know why you insist on making everything so difficult."

He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a filled syringe.

--- "Seeing as that Sam is a spunky one, and fiercely protective of her family, I want her eliminated her first. She trusts you, Mr. Spencer, so I suggest when the time comes, do as you are told."

Stavros dropped the syringe by Lucky's feet and walked out of the room.

**************************************

_Everything had been beyond confusing to him when he found his newfound brother sitting in the dark of his living room. His brother had not given him any information as to why he was supposed to help him with Jeff, but he was also not given much of a choice in the matter either. He knew he had to help him in order to save his sons._

_It was not until his mother spoke to him a few serendipitous weeks later that pieces began to fall into place for him._

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_Layna decided she needed to speak to her son about what would happen to the money and lifestyle he had grown accustomed to, upon her passing. She had always deemed it quite cruel that Andreus would not leave her anything permanent for which she could pass on to her sons, or son, now that her eldest son had died._

_--- "Tomas, we need to talk."_

_Her son had walked into the living room of the beautiful estate home he and his mother had moved to when they first arrived in the States. He kissed his mother on the forehead and sat down in the chair across from her._

_--- "Mama?"_

_She took a deep breath before speaking to him._

_--- "The doctors say that I'm quite sick. I don't have much time left on this earth, my son."_

_He moved from the chair to the couch; he wanted to sit beside her._

_--- "How long do you have?"_

_She shrugged her shoulders._

_--- "All I know is that whatever amount of time I have left, I want to travel and see things that I have never seen before. But that's not why I called you here."_

_He was devastated by his mother's news, but he knew that if she had accepted the news, he had to as well._

_--- "I don't want to lose you, Mama, but I know your faith is strong, and you believe that everything that happens in this world, was meant as such; so I'll accept that. What do you want to tell me?"_

_She looked as him; he looked so much like that bastard Karides, but he was a far better man than her husband had ever been._

_--- "I want to first tell you how proud I am of you. You've always worked hard to be the top of your class, and you succeeded. You're the best son a mother could ask for."_

_He was beginning to get nervous._

_--- "Mama, what is this about?"_

_--- "I'm sick and I'm going to die soon. When I do die, a lot of things in your life are going to change. This house, several properties we own throughout this country and Europe, will no longer be ours—"_

_He looked at her as though she had several heads._

_--- "What are you talking about? Grandfather left them to you—"_

_She shook her head._

_--- "No. There's so much to tell you."_

_--- "So tell me!"_

_--- "Okay. I was forced to marry your father; it was by virtue of tradition… an arranged marriage. Well, to make a long story short, I never loved him, and he never loved me. I knew that he was cheating on me; he had a woman on the side. He fathered children with her… Two sons, I believe."_

_He could not believe what he was hearing; he was shocked that his mother knew about his brother… well apparently brothers._

_--- "I have brothers? And you never told me? After he died—"_

_She saw the heartbreak setting in him. He had been devastated when his brother died._

_--- "I know! But, Tomas, listen to me; you would not have wanted those boys as your brother. They were evil! They're mother is an evil and vicious woman; I've heard stories."_

_He simply nodded his head. She continued before he could interrupt her again._

_--- "I too had an affair. I loved this man very much."_

_She went on to tell her son about her life with Andreus Davidovitch, and how he had wanted to take her away from Karides. She told him about the will and how the estates had been left to her only on for the remainder of her life, and afterwards, it would be transferred to an undisclosed person._

_--- "To whom is the estate transferring?"_

_She looked at him for a moment before answering; she could not tell if she saw it was greed or genuine curiosity in his eyes. She trusted it was the latter, rather than the former._

_--- "I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that his daughter will get it."_

_--- "His daughter? Why wouldn't he have left it for her in the first place?"_

_--- "I don't know exactly."_

_He stood up and paced the room._

_--- "What is her name?"_

_--- "Alexandra Davidovitch."_

_Without another word to his mother, he walked out of the room._

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_She intrigued him from the moment he had found out about her and her turbulent past. It astounded him how she was able to create such a wonderful life for herself despite the hardships life had dealt her. He was enamored. _

… _He had to do as he was asked._

**************************************

_**45 minutes prior**_

Alexis sat uncomfortably on the floor with Kristina's head resting in her lap; she played with her daughter's hair.

--- "We're going to get out of here. Mac is going to notice that we're gone. He's going to notice that and come and find us."

Sam, who was still feeling a discomfort as she sat, put her hand over her mother's.

--- "Mom, I'm more than sure that Mac will find us, and if anything Jason will be right there with him; he's been on the case for quite some time. I have to say that if anything he and Spinelli do a much better job then the PCPD anyway—"

Alexis gave her daughter a look of disapproval to which Sam returned with a look of shock.

--- "Seriously, you're going to act as though you disagree? When Kristina was missing, did you not scream at him and tell him that his men were incompetent? Now you're sleeping with—"

--- "Hey!"

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

--- "Sorry, but you know it's true."

Alexis shook her head.

--- "That doesn't mean that I need you to talk about my sex life, Sam."

--- "It's more than a sex life, Mom; you're in a relationship with a guy who really loves you. That's nice."

Alexis noted the sadness that seemed to suddenly consume her daughter.

--- "Honey, what's the matter? You're in a relationship with Lucky."

Sam scoffed.

--- "Mom, I'm in a something with a man who's so consumed in grief that he won't even touch me. Every time we get close, he just apologizes and that is the end of it. I haven't been in a relationship with him since Nikolas died—"

Alexis looked at her daughter; there was something off.

--- "I sense a but."

Sam looked at her mother seriously.

--- "If I tell you something, will you promise not to get mad? Or upset?"

Alexis never liked it when any of her kids asked her a question like that; she always expected the worse, and usually got it. She took a deep breath and nodded.

--- "Um, I think I'm falling back in love with Jason."

Alexis felt as though her heart begin to race; she had to take a deep breath to slow it down.

--- "Okay… okay… Honey, why?"

Sam knew her mother hated the idea of her being in love with Jason again, but she could not help it.

--- "Mom, I don't know. He's the one that has been there for me since this has started. He's continued to search tirelessly for information about these people, while Lucky has sulked—"

--- "Honey, Lucky's in mourning—"

Sam was getting slightly agitated with her mother.

--- "I know that! So are we! But, you know what, Mom, while I'm pregnant with Lucky's child, he's not doing anything to make sure that we're fine. He doesn't even ask about her. He doesn't want to feel my stomach when she kicks. He does nothing! I understand that he's got a lot on his plate right now, I get it; he's got Spencer, plus Cam and Jake. But, seriously, those kids are usually with Lesley or Audry because for whatever reason, Lucky doesn't want to be around them. He doesn't do anything but sit in the house and stair at a picture of Nikolas and Liz. Mom, he's so distant with me, I can't stand it! I'm having his baby and he doesn't seem to give a damn."

Alexis took her daughter's hand into her own.

--- "Do you love him?"

Sam nodded her head.

--- "I do. I'm in love with him. And I can't even say that I'll ever stop being in love with him because he's given me something that I never thought possible. I never thought I'd ever be able to have a child, and look at me! I'm almost eight months pregnant! But, seriously, I don't know if that's enough."

Alexis continued to feel her heart wanting to break free of her chest. She would never be able to accept her daughter with Jason Morgan.

--- "Sam, do you really want to, if we… WHEN we get out of this mess, want to have a relationship with a man in the mob? You're about to have a baby. Haven't you been in enough danger to last you a lifetime?"

--- "You know what's funny? Have you even realized that in the past year, there hasn't been a single mob hit? All the deaths that have hit Port Charles were related to us? Mom, I think that what I've learned throughout all of this is that it doesn't matter whether or not you're in the mob, or some innocent bystander on the street, if you're going to die violently, it's just written in the fates that way."

Alexis shook her head and closed her eyes.

--- "That's not the most optimistic viewpoint on life, Samantha."

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

--- "Maybe not, but considering everything that's happened, it's definitely the most realistic."

Alexis sighed and passed her hand over her daughter's cheek.

--- "Honey, I don't want to lose you or that baby."

Sam held her mother's hand and looked at her little sisters who were still fast asleep.

--- "Mom, I promise you that you won't."

Alexis felt a tear roll down her face.

--- "Don't make promises you can't keep."

**************************************

_The monitors continued to indicate that her stats were decreasing. Her son was nowhere in sight, which was quite unusual for him. The doctors hoped that for his sake he returned in time to say his final goodbyes to his mother._

**************************************

_**30 minutes prior.**_

The cars approached the Alexander Manor in absolute silence. No sirens were heard. They parked an adequate distance away so that they could not be seen from the house, or from any other approaching vehicle. Mac had his men position themselves around the property awaiting the signal to enter. Jason contacted Spinelli for a blueprint of the manor; within minutes, however, Spinelli did them better, he managed to hack into the system of the house. To their luck, the house was wired with cameras.

--- "Spinelli, I need you to search throughout the house to see if you can find where the Alexis, Sam, and the girls are being held."

Spinelli continued to work on the information. As relatively simple as the hacking of the security system may have been, attempting to find the women in a house of such magnitude proved to be as challenging as a 'Where's Waldo' game.

While they waited for Spinelli to take care of that, Mac took Jason to the side.

--- "Look, I don't care what we have to do to get those women out, if we have to kill everyone in sight, I'm willing to do that."

Jason blankly stared at him, unsure as to how to respond.

--- "Um, okay. Are you telling me that you're turning a blind eye?"

Mac nodded his head.

--- "Alexis and her girls mean the world to me. It's been shown already that whoever is after them does not care who he kills to get to them; I'm willing to adapt to that same motto… just this once. I want them out of there and as quickly as possible."

--- "Fine."

After several minutes, Spinelli forwarded a blueprint of the manor to Mac's laptop, and pinpointed where the women were.

They made their way to the house.

**************************************

_There was always something about her son that she never liked. Was it the fact that he always seemed to protect that bastard child, or the fact that he was just a mere coward undeserving of her love? He was nothing like her, and for that reason he sickened her._

_Unfortunately if she wanted her grandson to carry on the family name, he needed that useless child of hers to survive. Her pride and joy was already gone and she was left with this bastard, but the contents of the Will were clear; she could not survive her son, even if it were the one whom she had wished dead for as long as she could remember._

_She allowed them to take his "body" to the morgue of the hospital. There she retrieved him with the help of her loyal servants who continued to work there. She replaced him with a very another who, with the use of excellent makeup, and appropriate facial hair, easily passed for that good for nothing son of hers; the sight of the double was so convincing, the taste of disdain filled her mouth._

**************************************

_**15 minutes prior.**_

Agent Raynor walked directly to the office; he found him standing in there.

--- "Are you ready?"

He was staring at the same picture of Alexis and her daughters, with Nikolas and Spencer, that was in the room Lucky was being held. When Raynor walked into the room, he put the photo down.

--- "More than you know."

He opened the desk drawer and pulled out two guns, and attached the silencers to them. He handed one to Raynor and kept the other on his person.

As he closed the drawer, a vile rolled forward; he grabbed it and looked at it.

--- "This had better work."

Raynor nodded his head.

--- "This will soon be over."

The two men walked out of the office and toward the back stairwell.

**************************************

_She never knew that she would feel so relieved at the thought that her son would live. However, because she had always had her grandson's interests at heart, she forced herself to accept this 'good fortune', and swallowed her predatory desires to eliminate him._

_One night as she lied in her bed, a hand covered her mouth. The intruder turned the light on and smiled at her. She looked up in utter shock._

_--- "My son."_

**************************************

_**Present.**_

Alexis instinctively grabbed a hold of her girls.

--- "You're supposed to be dead."

He laughed again.

--- "Oh, Lex, don't you want to greet your big BROTHER? You should teach your daughters manners; they haven't said hello to their Uncle. I thought that growing up in the Cassidine household would've given you better etiquette than this; Mikkos would've been very disappointed in you."

Molly had since awoken in her mother's arms. She looked up and saw the fear in her mother's eyes.

--- "Mommy?"

Alexis looked down at her daughter.

--- "It's okay, baby. Sit down with Sam and Kristina."

Molly, hearing the trepidation in her mother's voice, quickly moved off of her lap and next to her sisters.

Stavros smiled at Alexis.

--- "How beautiful your children are, Alexandra—"

Alexis stood up and positioned herself in front of her children.

--- "You leave them alone, Stavros."

He slowly walked further into the room.

--- "It's astounding to me how motherly and nurturing you are to your children, Alexandra, when my mother made sure that your homewrecking WHORE of a mother was eliminated—"

--- "She didn't make sure that she was eliminated, Stavros; Helena murdered my mother herself."

He pulled out a blade with the Cassidine seal on the handle; he held it pointedly at her. Sam, Kristina, and Molly looked on frightfully, while Alexis stood defiantly in front of him.

--- "Perhaps we should have a bit of a repeat in history; how do we say, a déjà vu?"

While she maintained an air of calmness, Alexis was terrified; Stavros, much like his mother, had been born without a heart. Alexis prayed that her children would not have to see a gruesome murder much like the one she had suppressed for all of those years.

--- "I know about the money and the estate, Stavros. You can have everything if you just let me and my girls go."

He shook his head.

--- "Oh, dear Alexandra, I don't think so. You're much more useful to me dead than alive. Actually, you should have never existed in the first place; so killing you will only fix an error of history."

--- "You're a sick son of a b!tch."

Alexis turned around to glare at her eldest daughter who decided in her pregnant state to provoke Stavros.

--- "SAM, please!"

He laughed again.

--- "Oh dear Samantha, I've a surprise for you."

He reached in his pocket and pressed a button. Within seconds two guards walked into the room dragging Lucky. Sam gasped at the sight of him bloodied and bruised.

Stavros smiled at Sam's concern.

--- "Oh, you two may drop the Spencer filth beside the Davis garbage."

Alexis' eyes were like daggers; if looks could have killed in that moment, Stavros would have been dead.

The men did as they had been instructed and dropped Lucky beside Sam. She immediately began to tend to him.

--- "You bastard! What did you do to him?"

Alexis wanted to move to her daughter's and Lucky, but she knew better than to turn her back on Stavros.

Stavros stood looking pleasantly amused as the scene before him unfolded.

--- "Oh, you love this man don't you, Samantha?"

Lucky had been silent trying to pray for forgiveness for what he was about to do. When he heard Stavros taunting Sam, he had to speak up.

--- "Leave her alone!"

Stavros fiddled with the knife his hand for a few moments before looking at Alexis.

--- "So, Alexandra, how should we do this?"

Alexis could sense her children shaking behind her. She could see from the corner of her eye as Sam tried to tend to wipe the blood from Lucky's face as he attempted to sit up. This was her family; she could not let this man, her brother separate or harm them.

--- "Stavros, you can take me—"

Stavros looked at Alexis before turning his head to stare at Lucky. She noticed that he made a slight nod in her daughter's direction. She turned her head completely as Lucky pulled out a syringe.

Everything moved quickly.

--- "LUCKY!"

--- "I'm so sorry Sam."

Before she knew what was happening, he injected her with something. Her mother and sisters were screaming.

--- "SAM!"

--- "SAMMY!"

As Alexis went to move toward her, Stavros grabbed her and held the knife to her throat.

Sam was unable to feel her legs, and her eyes were getting heavy.

--- "Mom—"

Kristina and Molly were right at her side, as Lucky sat shell-shocked over what he had just done.

Alexis looked at her daughter slumped on the ground fighting to keep her eyes open, while her other two girls were unsure of what to do as their mother's life was hanging in the balance, and their sister was…

**************************************

_--- "What the hell do you mean that you're not helping me!"_

_He roughly grabbed her._

_--- I'm not taking any part of this; it's wrong."_

_He scoffed._

_--- "PLEASE! You of all people are talking to me about what's right and wrong?"_

_She had never been frightened of him before, but the look and rage in his eyes were strange to him. _

_--- "I have my limits."_

_He practically spit in her face._

_--- "YOU HAVE LIMITS?! Explain to me when those limits came into being because I can certainly come up with quite a few things that prove that you are a venomous snake lying in wait for an unsuspecting prey."_

_He smacked her in the face. The blow surprised her; she grew angry._

_--- "You impudent boy!"_

_She went to smack him back, but he grabbed her firmly by the arm. Despite her fitness, her strength was no match to his; she winced in pain. He smiled evilly._

_--- "I'm not a boy, Mother. I haven't been a boy for a long time now."_

_She tried to pull her arm free, but he tightened his grip._

_--- "Let go of me."_

_He laughed in her face._

_--- "You will help me—"_

_She shook her head._

_--- "I hate that little bitch more than anyone, but I will not sell her child into a prostitution ring!"_

_He roared furiously._

_--- "You had no problem killing that bitch's mother in front of her! You slit that woman's throat like an animal, but you will not help me now!"_

_--- "No! I don't hurt children—"_

_He laughed once more._

_--- "No, you just traumatize them; you LIE to them! Don't act as though you have a sense of moral convictions, Mother! If you did, we would not be in this situation!"_

_She scoffed._

_--- "It's your greed that put you here. You have more than enough money, but you want more—"_

_He twisted her arm hard enough that a snap was heard; she screamed out in pain._

_--- "I WANT WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RIGHTFULLY MINE! I AM THE CASSIDINE HEIR! I AM! ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'VE POUNDED INTO MY HEAD FOR YEARS? I AM THE HEIR, MY SON IS THE HEIR, HIS SON IS THE HEIR! WE ARE THE HEIRS! NOT SOME BASTARD FRUIT OF A LEWD AFFAIR AND HER BASTARD DAUGHTERS!"_

_The disdain he had for his sister was evident. She was collapsed on the floor in agony. _

_--- "You're a bastard, too."_

_He bent down and grabbed her by the front of her shirt._

_--- "Despite your transgressions, I was born in a marital union!"_

_She continued to goad him on._

_--- "You're not the heir! Mikkos was NOT your father!"_

_He squeezed her neck._

_--- "Under the eyes of the law, I was born in marriage, and that man was therefore my father! She is an illegitimate spawn from one of his countless affairs! God, what is the likelihood that the man you claimed to be my father was the husband of the adulterous whore who has held onto Father's money all along? My, my, mother, what a tangled web we've woven."_

_He let go of her. He walked around to the desk and pulled a syringe from the drawer. He knelt down before her._

_--- "Will you help me?"_

_She had done horrible things in her life, and had killed numerous times before, but to be responsible for a child being raped and sold into prostitution was out of the line. Regardless of her defective moral compass, she had her limits; child rape was one of them. She stared at him for a moment before responding._

_--- "No."_

_Stavros nodded his head and injected her with the contents of the syringe._

_--- "I'm sorry mother; it's not your turn to die just yet."_

_His brother stood outside of the room, looking in._

**************************************

When the car pulled up to the house, her heart began to race; she never thought that it would come to all of this. The driver stepped out of the car and walked around to her door.

--- "Madam."

She sat as still as stone lost in her thoughts. She knew what she had to do, and it made her sick, but she did not know what she was going to do.

--- "Madam?"

She looked up at the driver who held the door open for her.

--- "Yes?"

He held his hand out to her.

--- "We have arrived."

She nodded her head.

--- "So we have."

**************************************

**And Review! We're going for a crash landing… Are you hanging on, or are you falling out?**


	39. Bastards

**Thank the rain for RUINING MY EVENING! Ugh…**

So I'm glad you all seemed to have enjoyed the last chapter?! LOL. Thank you to all who reviewed! It was much appreciated.

Liv- Holy Sh!t Biscuit? Really? LMAO!

SamFanFirst- who's the dead dude? I think you added too many people to your tally.

**Unedited… I'm seriously falling asleep here. I'll look it over in the morning.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

**Bastards**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Helena felt the energy she had been deprived of all those months in the hospital, return to her. As she walked inside the house, she felt a momentum build up inside of her. She searched a few rooms quickly until she found the two children.

She looked at the men guarding Cameron and Jake.

--- "Take them out."

She walked out of the room toward the basement.

* * *

Lucky moved to the corner slightly away from Sam; he threw up.

--- "How did this happen? How could this have happened?"

Kristina screamed at the top of her lungs at the man.

--- "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!' YOU DID IT! MY SISTER'S DYING BECAUSE OF YOU!"

He sunk to the ground and cried like a baby. Stavros laughed aloud.

--- "Oh, you poor thing! It seems like your parents named you incorrectly; you're not lucky at all! Wouldn't you agree Alexandra?"

Alexis completely ignored Stavros' comment; she could not believe what she had just seen. The man who was supposed to have loved her daughter had just betrayed her in the worst way. She looked at her daughter who stared back at her. Her blood was boiling at the sight of her daughter, her best friend, lying on the ground dying. Her granddaughter was dying; she was again losing a grandchild without having known her. If she did not have a knife pressed against her neck she would have lunged at Lucky.

--- "You son of a bitch! You said you loved her! She's carrying your baby!"

Lucky was distraught over what he had done; he simply stared at Sam without taking any notice that Alexis was screaming at him.

--- "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry."

He went to touch her, but Kristina quickly moved and smacked him hard in the face.

--- "Don't you DARE touch her!"

Alexis wanted terribly to hold her girls in her arms.

--- "Kristina, sweetheart, please—"

Sam could not move; she felt like an intruder in her own body; she felt as though it no longer belonged to her. It was growing difficult for her to speak.

--- "Pl—ee—ase, st---o—p."

Tears welled in her foreign eyes; they rolled down her unfamiliar cheeks. Alexis and Kristina looked at the young woman they loved; their hearts were breaking in their chests. Lucky simply stared in obvious angst at the result of his doing.

--- "I'm so sorry. I didn't have a choice! He took the boys! I didn't have a choice!"

Molly passed her hands on Sam's face; the little girl was horrified to find that her sister's face was paling.

--- "Please don't leave me, Sammy! Please! You PROMISED me that everything would be fine! You promised!"

She began to cry as she laid her head onto her sister's chest.

Stavros laughed as he held the knife to Alexis' throat and watched the scene unfold.

--- "Oh, dear, dear Alexandra, it looks like your dear Samantha will soon be your dearly departed Samantha. Pity really, she's a very beautiful girl. Oh well, that eliminates one, rather two problems; only three more to go! Dear Molly, it'll soon be alright! You'll see your sister again! Trust me, it will be sooner than later."

Alexis needed to be with her daughter; if these were her final moments, she needed to hold her. She needed to tell her how much she meant to her.

--- "Stavros, please—"

Surprisingly he did not taunt her further; he simply let her go.

Alexis, disregarding Lucky's continued presence in the room, ran to her daughters. Kristina moved a crying Molly off of Sam so that Alexis could hold their big sister.

Alexis cradled her eldest girl in her arms. The tears fell from her eyes.

--- "Honey, please fight; you have to fight."

Sam attempted to nod her head, but it proved too heavy to move; she simply blinked her eyes causing the tears to continue to roll down her cheeks.

* * *

Mac and Jason entered the house. According to the blueprint Spinelli had sent them, Sonny had been held in an obscure section of the cellar; they had a distinctive feeling that the family was being kept there.

The house was exceptionally quiet. The men walked slowly and carefully toward the back stairs that would lead them right toward the room they were looking for. They were shocked that no guards had been posted to stop them; while convenient, this absence was highly troubling. This task was proving almost too simple.

As they went down the stairs, they came to realize the reason behind the lack of guards, the two who were posted there were dead; they had bullet holes in the center of their foreheads. Mac stared at Jason.

--- "If I weren't with you right now, I would certainly have been convinced that this was your doing."

Jason blankly stared at the man, and checked the men for identification.

--- "This guys name is Apollo Stephanopoulos."

Mac checked the other man for identification.

--- "Vlad Petreus. A Greek and a Russian—"

Jason rubbed his face.

--- "I have a feeling that this might be Helena's handiwork."

Mac shook his head.

--- "I don't know about that. She's neater than this. There's something off about all of this."

Suddenly the door opened up.

--- "Ah, yes, you're very right; this is not my handiwork at all."

As Jason was about to take a shot at Helena, two guards silently crept behind Mac and Jason; they clocked them in the heads, knocking them unconscious.

Helena smiled.

--- "Move them quickly."

She turned around and left the men to their tasks.

Stefan, who had hid inside of another room with the door slightly ajar, was shocked to see his mother out of the hospital bed.

* * *

Stavros thought he had heard a strange sound coming from the corridor.

--- "If you lovely ladies will excuse me, I must attend to some things outside. Please enjoy your farewells with each other; your elevator to hell should be arriving shortly."

He laughed and walked to the door. Suddenly he stopped.

--- "Oh, and Lucky, this should keep you occupied for a bit—"

Stavros pulled a gun out and shot the man in the leg. Alexis and her girls screamed in astonishment.

--- "Why would you do that?!"

Stavros did not bothering answering his "sister." He simply laughed once more and walked out of the room.

Sam stared at her mother.

--- "Lu-uu-ccc-ky. Mo-oom."

Alexis gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

--- "Krissy, hold your sister—"

Kristina was shocked that her mother was going to leave Sam's side.

--- "MOM! You CANNOT be serious! He's the reason Sam's dying! Niki's—"

--- "Kr-iii-sy."

Kristina continued to argue with her mother.

--- "The baby's probably gone because of that asshole! LET HIM DIE!"

--- "Kr-iii-sy—"

Molly, who was holding Sam's hand, noticed that her sister was trying to call out to Kristina.

--- "KRISTINA!"

Alexis and Kristina turned to the tiny girl; she was angry.

--- "Sam wants you to shut the HELL up and let Mommy take care of Lucky!"

Alexis was shocked by her young daughter's language, but she needed to take care of Lucky; it was what her daughter wanted.

--- "Kristina, just stay with Sam. Please."

Kristina brushed the tears from her face. She nodded and moved to her oldest sister.

--- "You can't leave us, Sam. I already told you, I'm not a good big sister; I'll screw up Molly. So, you have to stay with us. I need you to just fight."

Alexis wiped her own face as she watched her daughters together. Kristina cradling Sam, while Molly rubbed her sister's pregnant belly, assuring the baby inside that she was loved as much as her mother. Alexis turned her attention to the man who was like a nephew to her.

--- "Okay, you son of a bitch. I don't want you to die."

Lucky held his leg where he had been shot.

--- "Alexis, just let me die."

She shook her head.

--- "That hell I will! I don't want you to live because I think you deserve to. After what you did to my daughter, and my granddaughter, I want you to live so I can see you rot in prison, you selfish asshole. You have two sons to think about and you're just sitting here worried about yourself."

--- "They don't need me!"

She unbuttoned his shirt and took it off of him. She used the shirt to apply pressure to the bleeding wound. She did not know much about the human body, but she knew about it well enough to remember that Durant had died from a gunshot wound in the same spot.

--- "The hell they don't! Children need their parents. Their mother is dead, I guess because of you, so now they were supposed to be able to lean on you, instead, look at what you've done!"

He looked at the women.

--- "Alexis, believe me. I didn't have a choice."

She continued to apply as much pressure as she possibly could to the wound. She looked back at her daughters. She breathed a sigh of relief as Sam was still holding on. She glared at Lucky.

--- "Enlighten me."

He started from the beginning.

* * *

_Lucky arrived home after having dealt with the whole Jeff situation. He was grateful that Alexis was safe and alive; he would not have been able to tell Sam that her mother was dead. While he wanted to go to the hospital to see about Molly, he figured he would go there after seeing his children who were home with the sitter. When he walked into the house, everything went dark._

_When he finally came to, a man whom he knew to be dead greeted him._

_--- "Stavros?"_

_He laughed._

_--- "In the flesh."_

_Stavros had his small children held at gunpoint; the nanny was nowhere in sight. Lucky saw the fear in Cameron's eyes, and the longing in Jake's eyes; he had to do whatever he needed to protect them._

_--- "I'll do whatever you want,__ but I'm begging you not to hurt them."_

_Stavros liked his answer._

_--- "Well, it's simple really. All you have to do is keep the lovely Samantha by your side. When the time is right, you'll step aside and kill her."_

_Lucky was shocked._

_--- "You want me to kill her?!"_

_--- "No, silly boy! I think it's apparent that you Spencers are incapable of killing anyone! I simply want for you to watch her and report to me. I want you to make sure that you keep her at close proximity, but I don't want you to be obvious; that girl is quite smart for her own good. If you have to break up with her, you do it. I want you to go along the relationship as normal, but you will still keep a very close eye on her."_

_Lucky's world was spinning. He did not know how he could betray the woman that he loved in such a way._

_--- "Why do you want her dead?"_

_--- "I don't simply want her dead, my dear boy; I want them ALL dead. If it weren't for that piece of crap Jeff's incompetence, they certainly would have been done away with by now—"_

_Lucky gasped._

_--- "You were the reason behind Jeff coming after them! Why would you do that?"_

_Stavros got so close to Lucky's face, he could feel his breath hit has face._

_--- "That's of no concern to you. You will just do as I ask, or your precious little boys will pay the consequences of your stupidity."_

_Lucky hesitated to respond. Stavros stepped back and paced the room._

_--- "My dear Laura is in Paris, is she not?"_

_Lucky stared at the man._

_--- "You wouldn't hurt my mother; you love her."_

_Stavros shrugged his shoulders._

_--- "There are certain things that I love more than the woman who betrayed me."_

_Lucky felt as though he wanted to vomit. Stavros grew impatient._

_--- "I'll give you to the count of three to make your decision: your family or theirs."_

_He pointed to the gunmen who held his children. Lucky saw the look of terror in Cameron's eyes. Jake had begun to cry; his arms were outstretched for his father to take him away from the man who grasped him too tightly. As he heard Stavros count to three, Lucky knew he had to make the impossible choice; either decision he made, he would have blood on his hands._

_--- "I choose my kids!"_

_The man smiled._

_--- "Good choice. I can't say that you would've survived had you made any other choice."_

_Stavros pointed to the man standing behind Lucky with a gun aimed at the back of his head._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_Stavros had not contacted Lucky much over the next few months. Lucky, however, knew that he was supposed to be, during that time, getting closer to Sam. With each step they took toward each other, however, his heart hurt more and more, from the pain of the betrayal he would soon inflict upon her, and the fact that he was profoundly in love with her. He tried to think about how he could go about saving her and her family's lives, but he knew that if he attempted to betray Stavros, his sons or his mother would pay the price; he therefore continued as was directed of him._

_He and Sam enjoyed a nice evening together. As they stared at each other over dinner, Lucky allowed himself to forget about the plan he was forced to take part in; he proposed. When her phone rang and broke the moment, Lucky was brought back into reality as he heard Sam worry about her family who had just been nearly run off of the road. His heart fell; the months of calm had come to an end._

_After Sam left to meet her family at the hospital, Lucky received a message on his phone: 'How lovely you two are together. Your love is explosive.' He would not understand the message until hours later._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_After her apartment blew up, Lucky knew that he needed an out in their relationship. As Stavros had told him, he was to let the relationship move at it's natural rhythm; when Sam told him that she wanted to continue her career as an active private investigator, he was terrified. Not only was he afraid that she would be killed doing such a job (he continued to live in denial of the plans that suffocated him at night), the part of him that would not let him forget about the plan, did not want her pursuing a career that might have his hand in the near deaths of her and her family found out. He lived in a continuous world of confusion, denial, and terror._

_He knew that Stavros would not have allowed him to stop helping him, but he also knew that he had come too close to his own demise by being in an apartment that had been set to explode; he had to think about his children and the pain they would be in if he were to die. Instead he decided to keep tabs on Sam from afar. While seeing her always stirred up a desire to be with her, and his heart longed to hear her voice, so he constantly called her, his conscience stopped him from approaching her when he saw her. That was until he saw her step out of Jason's car at the Metro Court hotel, after her car exploded in her mother's driveway._

_He loved Sam more than he had ever thought that he could. He wanted to tell her about what was going on, but he knew that she would go after Stavros; that was the type of person she was. He could not risk losing her prematurely; he wanted to have every second he could with her. After making love to her in the bathroom of the Metro Court, he knew that regardless of everything that was going on, he needed to be with her; he needed to figure out how he could keep her safe._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_Everything fell apart when Sam 'died.' Lucky felt as though his heart had broken into a million little pieces. He wondered if he had trusted her, and told her what had been going on, if he could have saved her. He thought that if he had actually gone after Stavros himself, if he could have saved Sam. Every thought that came to his mind led him to one conclusion: he was a coward. Stavros, on the other hand, was ecstatic that he had finally been rid of one of the Davis women; he relieved Lucky of his duties._

_Then, his world that was turned upside down was flipped back accordingly, if only for a little while: Sam was alive and she was pregnant with his child. While he was beyond happy that the love of his life was alive, his heart ached; he knew that it was only a matter of time before Stavros learned the truth. _

_A matter of time approached more quickly than Lucky could have ever imagined. As he was driving _

_Stavros was livid. _

_--- "Why didn't you tell me that she was alive?"_

_He sighed._

_--- "I didn't know—"_

_--- "Bullsh!t. You knew, and now you'll pay."_

_The phone went silent._

_Lucky sent his children to their grandmother, and began the drive to Brockton. Despite the danger his family was in, he was adamant about protecting them; Sam was pregnant with his child, so she was a priority to him as well. When he got the call, however, that there was a shooting at Kelly's, he knew he needed to turn around; other than the fact that he knew Nikolas would be there (although he knew that Stavros would never hurt his own son), something in his heart told him that he needed to get to the diner._

_Stavros had done as he said he would; he made him pay. Not only was Nikolas gone, his first love, the mother of his children, was gone too; Liz was taken from him._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

_After the shooting at Kelly's, Stavros did not contact him for months; Lucky assumed that he was mourning. His desire to have Lucky pay resulted in the death of his own son. While Lucky mourned and was eaten up by the guilt of Nikolas and Liz's deaths, Stavros plotted revenge on the Davis Family, and perhaps Lucky as well; it was in fact his own fault that Nikolas died. If he had told Stavros that Sam had lived, Stavros would not have taken such drastic steps to show that he had meant business. Lucky knew that whatever request Stavros had made of him next, he was to follow it; his love for his children and their lives trumped his love for Sam and her family._

_When the demand finally came, Lucky knew that he had no other choice but to oblige. Stavros wanted Spencer; for the sake of his own children, Lucky had to comply. The one error he made, however, was not realizing that the revenge Stavros sought to take against those who caused his son's death, was also meant for him._

* * *

Agent Raynor walked down the long corridor leading to the room the women were being held. He needed to move quickly otherwise everything would be ruined. As he approached the room, he ran into a guard.

--- "What are you doing down here?"

Raynor stood defiantly against the guard.

--- "I think the real question is what are YOU doing down here? This is MY home."

The guard had been told that the home belonged to the true heir of the Cassidine and Davidovitch fortunes.

--- "I apologize sir."

He stepped out of the way in order for Raynor to pass. Raynor nodded at the man; that was easier than he had thought.

--- "Thank you."

The guard conked Raynor in the back of the head with his gun causing the man to fall to the ground; he was knocked out cold.

--- "That would be Mr. Cassidine."

As the guard went to drag Raynor out of the corridor, a silent bullet hit him in the back of the head; he fell over.

Stefan walked out from the shadows and dragged the guard into a nearby closet. He then walked to Raynor and smacked him in the face.

--- "Wake up, brother, we have much to do."

* * *

Kristina noticed her sister was still breathing so she tried to keep her awake; she did not want Sam to close her eyes and slip away from her.

--- "Sammy, come on! You can't die. You've got Niki or Dani, or whatever you decide to call her, to think about!"

Alexis had tightly bound Lucky's leg and returned to her daughters. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek.

--- "Honey, she's right try and keep your eyes opened."

Sam could feel her body stiffening. She was unsure of what to make of it all.

--- "I—ca-an-t---m-o-ve."

Alexis did not know what to do. She began to exercise her daughter's legs as she did when she had been paralyzed.

--- "Honey, can you feel this?"

With each move of her leg, Sam felt as though her mother was ripping her legs apart. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Molly grabbed her mother's arm.

--- "Mommy, stop! She's crying!"

Alexis looked at Sam and noticed a pained look in her eyes. She turned to look at Lucky who was staring at Sam.

--- "What the hell did you give her!? She's in pain!"

Sam was concerned about her baby; she had not felt her kick or move since Lucky had injected her.

--- "Mo-o-om—"

Alexis looked at her daughter. She wiped the tears from her face.

--- "Yes, honey?"

--- "Ba-a-by."

Alexis put her hand on her daughter's stomach.

--- "Niki, do you hear Nana? Baby, kick Nana."

There was no movement from the baby. Alexis did not know what to make of the baby's lack of movement; she did not want to assume the worse, but she was still quite worried. Kristina looked at her.

--- "Mom?"

Alexis shook her head slightly.

Kristina got up and ran to the door. Alexis called after her.

--- "Honey, stop!"

Kristina tried to turn the knob, but it was locked.

--- "LET US OUT OF HERE YOU F*CKING SH!TFACE ASSHOLES!"

The girl collapsed on the floor in tears. Alexis wanted to go to her, but she needed to stay with Sam. Instead, Molly ran to her sister; she wrapped her arms around her.

--- "Krissy, it's okay, don't cry."

Kristina returned her sister's embrace.

--- "I'm just scared Mol."

--- "Me too."

Alexis noticed the doorknob begin to turn.

--- "Girls get over here now."

The girls ran to their mother.

When the door opened, Alexis nearly passed out.

* * *

Stavros did not like the odd sound that had come from the hall. He heard what he believed were two shots, and then a thud. He held his gun in his hands and walked carefully so as not to make any sounds; whoever was running rampant in the hall would pay dearly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone hurry past.

--- "Oh, enjoy your life as long as you can."

He turned and followed where the person had gone. As he turned the corner, he came face to face with the person.

--- "Hello Mother."

Helena passed her hands along his face.

--- "My son."

He was pleased to see her. He always knew that she would never allow herself to die in such a deplorable manner, as a vegetable in a hospital bed; it wasn't the Cassidine way. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on either cheek.

--- "You look wonderful, Mother."

She smiled at him.

--- "Well, I suppose I should thank you for the rest I was able to get."

He was suspicious of the woman, but he knew that she was fiercely loyal to him, as he was to her. Despite his betrayal of her, and her unwillingness to help him, they were each other's allies.

--- "Oh Mother, you know I wouldn't have done that unless it were absolutely necessary."

She squeezed his hand.

--- "I forgive you, my son."

He smiled at her.

--- "Well, would you like to see your little mouse?"

She nodded her head.

--- "With pleasure."

He led the way.

* * *

--- "Stefan?!"

He nodded his head.

--- "Lex, we have to get you out of here."

Agent Raynor stepped in behind him. Alexis covered her face.

--- "What the hell is going on here!?"

Stefan went to lift Sam from Alexis' arms, but she was slightly resistant. He frowned at her.

--- "Lex, you know I would never hurt you."

She did not have much of a choice but to take her brother's word for it; the alternative would have been to wait for Stavros to come back and kill them.

As disgusted as he was with Lucky, Agent Raynor figured he might as well help the man; he'd have him arrested for his roll in the Davis family's troubles.

--- "Let's go."

The door opened up. Stavros and Helena walked in. Alexis shook her head; this was beyond her wildest imaginations.

--- "I should've known you were behind this! But I said, 'No, Helena's actually BETTER than this; she'd never go after children. Family actually means something to her. She might come after me because let's face it, she's hated me since she knew of my existence, but she'd never go after my children. You're a sick and disgusting human being; I hope you rot in hell.'"

Helena smiled at Alexis.

--- "My, my, my, Natasha, you're quite angry with me. You were always a disagreeable human being. I really don't know why I never killed you when I had the chance; this certainly would not have occurred. God know my grandson would still be alive."

She took her gun and pointed it directly at Alexis; she turned to face Stefan.

--- "And you, Stefan, I suggest you and Mr. Raynor over there give your guns to my son otherwise poor Natasha's brains will be splattered all over her children."

Stefan looked at Raynor and nodded his head. They both relinquished their guns; Stavros took them both. Helena smiled amusingly at her younger son.

--- "It's no wonder that you would actually help this mouse here instead of being loyal to your family—"

--- "I am being loyal to my family—"

Helena shook her head.

--- "I really should have let you die when you cowardly dropped yourself from that cliff. Ugh, the sight of you still turns my stomach."

She walked closely up to him.

--- "It appears you have faint scars on your face. Hmm, what happened there? Wait! Don't tell me! Your brother, who is a real man, beat you up because you were partially responsible for Nikolas' death? Did you neglect to tell him that Nikolas would be at Kelly's that day when that fallen angel Elizabeth met her untimely demise?"

Stefan looked at his mother in revulsion.

--- "You could not care less that Nikolas died; he was just a pawn in keeping the Cassidine name! I don't know what it is about this 'family' that you and Stavros take such pride in. You are all nothing but a bunch of hateful, backstabbing, bastards! My goodness, we're not even Cassidines!"

Alexis, who was holding onto Molly and Kristina tightly, stared at Stefan as he held Sam in his arms.

--- "What are you talking about?"

Agent Raynor spoke up.

--- "It looks like Helena here—"

Helena pulled her gun out and pointed it at the federal agent.

--- "Oh, you don't speak my name! Your mother was as bad as the mouse's whore of a mother. The only reason I didn't kill your b!tch is because she was smart enough to not get knocked up by MY husband."

Stefan laughed aloud.

--- "Do you hear yourself, Mother? You fathered two children with Raynor's father! It appears that you are the whore!"

Helena moved quickly to Stefan and squeezed his neck. She paid little attention to the dying woman in his arms. She stared him directly in his eyes.

--- "You shut your mouth right this instant. You don't know what you're talking about. The only whore in this room is the mouse, and oh yes, dear Samantha here."

She released Stefan and looked at the woman.

--- "Oh, I apologize for being so rude; if I had known long ago that you were the mouse's child, I probably would've killed you on the spot. I suppose it was your great fortune that you get to die in tandem with your family. I think I might have to take a family portrait of you four."

She turned to Stavros who was reveling in having his mother once again on his side; he had hated plotting everything on his own.

--- "My son, what do you think of the name on the portrait: 'Here lies the mouse and her filthy runts.'"

He smiled and nodded.

--- "I think that is fairly accurate, although I prefer bastards."

Alexis could not help but speak up.

--- "It truly astounds me how a man, and I use that word quite loosely, who kills others as though it were an everyday sport, could be so self-righteous as to look down on people who have children outside of marriage. Your mother stands here and passes her judgment on me, but she was having an affair with another man while married to Mikkos. I already know that this is about money. I'm here to tell you, Stavros that I don't want it! You can have it! You can take it all! Just let my girls and I go!"

Stavros pulled his gun out and looked at it for a few moments.

--- "I'm quite tired of all of this talk. Mother, would you like to do the honors?"

Helena walked back beside her son.

--- "Oh, my son, it would please me immensely—"

The door was suddenly kicked open.

Jason and Mac entered the room with guns drawn. Helena pulled Alexis to her and aimed her gun to her head, while Stavros pulled Molly to him and held the gun to her.

Mac walked around the room slowly; he was shocked to see Stavros, but he did not have the time to waste being shocked at the sight of him.

--- "Don't do anything drastic Stavros. The same goes for you Helena."

She smiled at the commissioner.

--- "Oh Malcolm, if you would be so kind as to drop your weapon, we wouldn't want my finger to slip and my mouse here eliminated."

He stared at Alexis who gave him a pleading look. She looked from Molly, who was obviously shaken up, to Kristina who was unsure as to what to do with herself, then Sam, in Stefan's arms, who could barely keep her eyes open. Jason noticed Sam as well; she was pale and beginning to sweat. He nodded his head.

--- "Fine. We're putting our guns down."

Jason put his gun on the ground, and kicked it toward Stavros; Mac followed suit.

--- "Now, just let them go."

Stavros shook his head.

--- "I'm sorry but they're the reason we're here, Mr. Morgan. You don't understand that they will be eliminated. Now, I'm tired of playing these games."

Everything moved quickly as the only people who seemed to have guns in the room happened to be Helena and Stavros.

--- "Let's get started!"

Guards came bursting into the room. Jason and Mac pulled out hidden guns and took aim at the guards. As Stavros aimed his gun toward Kristina, Agent Raynor, ran toward the girl; he was struck in the side by the bullet.

Stavros then pointed the gun at Stefan, while the guards continued to run into the room, and kept Jason and Mac occupied. Helena pushed Alexis away from her and took aim at her son.

As Stavros fired the gun toward Stefan, hitting the man in the forehead, causing him to fall back dead, as he held the pregnant woman who fell as well; Alexis gasped. Another shot was heard as Stavros, having been shot in his temple. fell to the ground; he landed on top of the youngest Davis.

--- "AH!"

Alexis moved quickly to pull her daughter out from under the weight of the heavy man, but she felt a gun pointed toward her. The room had become quite silent; both Jason and Mac had eliminated the guards, but their guns were also empty. The only one standing in the room was Helena, who aimed her gun at Alexis.

--- "Get up."

Everyone who was unhurt in the room, Kristina, Molly, Jason and Mac, along with the wounded, Raynor, Lucky, and Sam, watched helplessly the showdown between the armed Helena and unarmed Alexis; her children's hearts were heavy as they knew how this would end.

--- "Natasha, I've hated you from the time I knew you existed. Your mother was a cheating whore… but no more than I. I want terribly to blame you for this havoc, but the fault lies entirely on my shoulders. If it weren't for my discretions, and giving birth to these two bastard sons for a man, whom I loved dearly, none of this would have happened. My grandson is dead; the pride of my life, is dead because his father believed that he was the rightful heir to this poisonous money. You may have it Natasha."

She pulled the gun's safety as she continued to aim at Alexis.

--- "May the rest of your despicable life, as a result of this Cassidine curse, be filled with as much torment."

She turned the gun to herself.

--- "Don't think I did this for you mouse."

And she shot herself in the head.

Alexis looked around the room in absolute shock. The two brothers whom she believed had been long dead, resurrected and died on the same day. The woman who had made herself seem immortal was finally out of her life for good.

Alexis then looked to her girls, Kristina was covered in Raynor's blood as she attempted to apply pressure to his wound. She pulled her youngest daughter, who was crying, from underneath the most evil man she had ever known; Alexis held her child tightly. Then she looked at Sam… oh Sam. She ran over to her daughter; her eyes were barely staying opened and the tears continued to flow. She could tell that Sam was in pain, and she could not move.

--- "Call for help Jason or Mac! Raynor and Lucky need an ambulance!"

Mac quickly got onto the phone and made the call.

Kristina looked at her mother.

--- "And Sam."

Alexis looked at her daughter and shook her head. She then turned her attention back to Sam. She wiped the tears from her daughter's face. She noticed how difficult everything seemed to be for Sam: staying awake, her breathing seemed to be shallowing, and her heartbeat seemed to slow. As much as she wanted her to stay and fight, Alexis knew she could not be selfish; she had to let her go.

--- "Samantha—"

Sam blinked slowly and focused on her mother.

--- "Mo-ooo-m—"

Alexis put her finger to her daughter's lips.

--- "Honey, don't speak. Listen to me, okay? I love you more than the sun's light hits this earth. I love you more than the amount of stars in the sky."

Sam understood her mother's words; her throat felt tight and dry, but she needed her mother to hear for the last time that she felt the same way.

--- "I lo-oo-ve you."

Alexis broke down as she watched her daughter struggle.

--- "Honey, you can let go. Go be with Lila. You and Niki both."

--- "Mo-oo-om."

Sam's eyes closed. Alexis looked at her daughter and sobbed; she knew that it was only a matter of time. Kristina could not concentrate on Raynor; she cried as she heard what her mother had just told her sister. Mac moved to her and took her place in applying pressure on Raynor's wound. Kristina wiped the man's blood on her pants and moved to her youngest sister. She and Molly held onto each other and cried for their sister.

Jason and Lucky looked at each other; their hearts were breaking.

Molly cried as the wound of having lost Sam a first time had been reopened. She looked at her mother as she cradled her sister in her arms, and noticed something strange.

--- "Mommy—"

Alexis looked at her young daughter; it was difficult to focus on the child as she looked just like the dying one in her arms.

--- "Yes baby."

Molly pointed toward Sam's pants.

--- "Sammy's pants are wet."


	40. Forgiveness

**  
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Chapter Forty**

**Forgiveness**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Patrick and Kelly walked out of the operating room. They walked the distance to the waiting room. Before opening the door, Patrick looked at Kelly.

--- "Are you ready for this?"

She nodded her head.

They stepped into the room to face the family.

Alexis and Jason stood up.

--- "How are they? How's Sam? How's the baby?"

* * *

From the time that Stavros was a child, Helena had allowed him to get away with everything and anything; he was her first-born child, the best thing that she had ever created with the love of her life, Karides. She had turned her eyes from the obvious evilness that ran through his veins; he had proven from an early age that he was his mother's child. The coldness in the child's eyes, and the way that he so callously abused the little mouse was, to say the very least, unnerving. She would never admit this to anyone, but she had grown increasingly terrified of her own child.

As stated, Karides was the love of her life. She had spent years imagining how she and he would be able to one day be able to raise their children together. When Mikkos died, she believed that she would finally get that chance; she should have known better than to believe that Stavros of all people would have accepted that he was the product of an extramarital tryst. She had spent so many years calling that little mouse a bastard, and letting her know that she was unwelcome. She raised her sons to believe that they were the true Cassidines. She told them that they should be proud to have such a name and look down upon anyone who attempts to interlope into that exclusive faction. She should have known better than to think that her son would ever understand that Karides was the greatest man she had ever known or that he was his father. She should have known better…

--- "Are you sure that the boys will accept me?"

Helena stood behind Karides as he adjusted his tie in the mirror. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned her head on his back.

--- "I know that it will be difficult for them to understand, at first, but they'll come to love you as much as I do."

He turned around and held her. He looked her in the eyes.

--- "I wish that I had gotten to know them—"

She looked away.

--- "I know. I wish that you and I had been able to raise them together. Unfortunately, there's nothing that could have been done about that."

He kissed her passionately.

--- "We'll make new memories."

There was something about Karides that melted Helena's iced heart. Being in his presence turned the ruthless woman into a new person. Unfortunately, upon his death, stone replaced her broken heart.

While she had remained loyal to Stavros, from the time he killed her Karides, she knew that it was only an amount of time before he betrayed her as well. Because he was her son, she forgave him for his horrible transgressions, excused his murderous acts, and aided him remain in hiding. Her freezing of his lifeless body after his fatal tumble down the staircase after his fight with Luke Spencer, or helping him kidnap Sonny Corinthos, was more an act of principle, than a profound love; such ability to love died with Karides. She never stopped loving her son, but her acts of loyalty to him were driven through the desire to receive what was rightfully her beloved grandson's: the entire Cassidine fortune.

Nikolas was untainted. He was something good that came from someone so evil. It was by the grace of God that blood ran through her grandson's veins rather than the venom that flowed through both hers and Stavros' bodies. He was generous and loving. He was intelligent and handsome. He was who Stavros should have been. She loved her grandson more than life itself; she would have killed to spare a hair on his head from being disturbed. Alas, like Karides, this pure gem was stolen from the world at the hands of her beloved Stavros.

And then there was Stefan. She hated him from the moment he was born. Because her heart was divided between Karides and Stavros, there was no longer any room to let another person in; she could not imagine dividing her love any further to give her young son a chance. It was the luck of the draw; Stefan drew the short stick.

She never appreciated his gentleness or his kindness; she saw it as a sign of weakness. She never realized that his character was a replicate of his father's, her Karides. Because he was nothing like her, ruthless, vain, and corrupt, she failed to notice the subtle nuances that made him everything like his father. He gave himself entirely to others, just as his father had. When the little mouse moved into their home, she resented his compassion for the waif. She was disgusted by the time he spent with her, and for the way he protected her from Stavros, who knew what it meant to be a Cassidine. Instead of realizing that Stefan exemplified everything that she had fallen in love with Karides for, she turned her back on him; she called him a disappointment.

It was not until her Stavros, her beloved son, whom she defended from the world's air of superiority and arrogance, finally betrayed her as she had predicted, that she realized the grave error she had made. As she lay in the hospital bed for months, she finally listened to everything that her son had to say. She heard the hatred he had in his heart toward everything: the way the wind blew, the way the fire burned, people, children, the world. As she lay in the hospital bed, she came to realize the monster that she had solely created. He was not a product of the extreme love she shared with Karides; he was a spawn borne from Beelzebub's loins. Disdain and fear consumed her; she knew she needed to make it right.

As she lay in the hospital bed, she listened to her other son, the one she casted aside like trash in the street. He sought to stop the reign of terror his brother inflicted upon Natasha and her family. He made to do everything that she should have done from the time Stavros killed Karides; Stefan meant to bring this man to justice. As she lay there, helpless, Stefan ensured that she was well taken care of, and that her linens and clothing was clean; Stavros did none of that. Stefan's vigilance filled her with a pride that she only wished existed years and decades prior.

For once, she decided that she would protect her son; she would protect Stefan. For too long she had allowed the world's purities to be destroyed by Stavros; she needed to put an end to it all.

And so she did. As the son she raised as the apple of her eye took aim at the son she had never loved, Helena felt her arm rise. She pushed the woman whom she hated more than the love she had had for Karides, out of harm's way. She cocked the gun almost at the same instance that Stavros cocked his own. And she pulled the trigger.

She stood there staring at the remainder of her life lying on the cold floor of the Alexander manor, the estate that now, upon the death of that whore Layna Alexander would belong to Natasha, she realized that nothing mattered anymore. Everything that she had fought for out of pure desire of principle was gone. Her two sons were dead on the ground in an almost ironic fashion: the two evil members of the family aimed their weapons toward the purity that remained. Like Karides, and like Nikolas, Stefan was stolen from the world. This was a heartbreak she never expected; how could a heart replaced by stone be broken into pieces?

She turned the gun to herself, and fired.

* * *

--- "Mommy—"

Alexis looked at her young daughter; it was difficult to focus on the child as she looked just like the dying one in her arms.

--- "Yes baby."

Molly pointed toward Sam's pants.

--- "Sammy's pants are wet."

Alexis and Kristina were shocked; they were unsure if Sam had wet herself or if her water had broken.

--- "What the hell?"

Kristina looked at her mother.

--- "Mom, what do we do?"

Lucky spoke up from the corner of the room.

--- "Get her out of here! She might be in labor. Save my baby."

Alexis glared at him with venom in his eyes.

--- "Your baby? The one who might be dead because of you!"

Mac ran over and lifted Sam from the floor as Jason walked over to Lucky. He addressed Alexis without turning to look at her; he wanted to hear what she said but see Lucky's reaction.

--- "What do you mean the baby might be dead because of Lucky?"

Alexis went to pull Jason away, but she knew that for the sake of Cameron and Jake, he would not kill Lucky; she figured that whatever he did to Lucky was deserved.

--- "He injected Sam with something. That's why she's dying."

Jason's eyes turned cold. He kicked Lucky in the face and stomach.

--- "You stupid SON OF A B!TCH!"

He was about to stomp on the man's wounded leg, but Alexis stopped him.

--- "Jason! SAM!"

Mac had called his men to tell them to bring the car out front. Lucky gasped for air.

--- "Mac! My boys? Spencer?"

He looked with disgust at the man on the floor. When Mac had called for an ambulance, he requested his men sweep the house in search of Cameron, Jake, and Spencer. They informed him that the search was unnecessary; the boys were already in their custody.

--- "They're fine. It looks like Helena had them brought outside. One of my men drove them to Lesly's."

Lucky breathed a sigh of relief.

--- "Thank—"

Mac cut him off as he made it to the door with Sam.

--- "SAVE it, Lucky. If Sam dies, I will see to it personally that you spend your entire life in prison."

Agent Raynor was still conscious from his wound; Alexis did not want to leave him for he saved Kristina's life. He looked at her.

--- "Alexis, go."

She walked over to him; she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

--- "Thank you."

He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out a vile. He handed it to her.

--- "Take this. This is what they gave her."

She stood up and walked out just as the paramedics were making their way into the room.

* * *

They arrived to the hospital in record time.

Alexis jumped out of the car with Kristina and Molly, as Mac carried Sam into the hospital.

--- "HELP! We need help!'

Patrick, Robin, and Matt ran over.

--- "What happened to her?"

Alexis tried to remain as calm as possible.

--- "She was injected with something! And her pants are wet—"

Robin ran to the nurse's desk and paged Kelly. Matt had a stretcher brought over.

--- "How long ago did her pants get wet?"

--- "Like 10 minutes ago."

Patrick and Matt pushed the gurney into an examination room. Alexis turned to Mac who gave her an assured look. She kissed Molly and Kristina's heads.

--- "I need to be with her."

The girls, after everything that had happened, did not want to be separated from their mother, but they knew that her sister needed her more.

--- "Tell her we love her."

Alexis brushed a few tears from her cheeks and nodded.

--- "I will."

She ran into the room, daring someone to tell her that she was not supposed to be in there. The nurse's were drawing blood while having her set up on an I.V. Patrick looked at Alexis.

--- "Do you have any idea what they might have given her?"

She had been so preoccupied that she had forgotten that Raynor had given her the vile. She reached into her pocket and handed it to Patrick.

--- "Raynor said that this is what she was given."

Patrick nodded; he looked worried.

--- "This is a paralytic."

Alexis did not understand why he looked so nervous.

--- "That should be fine. You gave that to her when you had us believe she was dead."

He began ordering rounds of medication.

--- "Yes, but too much of something in one's body is not a good thing. I think Sam's having a reaction."

Kelly ran into the room.

The nurses had cut Sam out of her clothes and dressed her into a gown. Kelly immediately began to examine her.

--- "What's going on? Why isn't she responsive?"

Patrick quickly explained the situation. Kelly looked nervous.

--- "Okay, we need to get this baby out, NOW."

* * *

Jason arrived at the hospital with Lucky. He did not care about the man's health; he simply wanted to know how Sam was doing. Upon entering the hospital, he ran into Mac.

--- "How is she?"

Mac shrugged his shoulders.

--- "Alexis just went into the examination room."

Jason crossed his arms and stared at the door hoping that Alexis would come out quickly and let them know what was going on.

--- "She'll be fine. I know she will.

* * *

Alexis consented to an emergency caesarian section for Sam; this was the only way to ensure that the baby was given some chance at living. Before wheeling Sam in, Alexis leaned down and looked at her daughter.

--- "Honey, I know I gave you permission to leave before, but now I'm begging you to fight. I told you once, and I'll tell you again, you mean the world to me. You're engrained in me, sweetheart; I don't want to lose you. So you had better fight. If Niki's anything like you, I know that she's fighting hard too."

She kissed Sam on the forehead.

--- "I'm waiting for you Honey."

She took a step down and leaned over Sam's stomach.

--- "Niki, you make Mama and Nana proud, okay? I'm not ready for you to leave us either. Okay? So if you see Kristina or Lila, tell them that they'll have to wait to have you."

She gently kissed Sam's stomach. Kelly passed her as the orderlies pushed the gurney toward the operating room; she gave Alexis' arm a squeeze.

--- "We'll do our best to save them both."

Alexis felt the tears streaming down her face as she nodded her head; she knew that the General Hospital staff's best was as close to perfection as they could possibly get. She had no doubts in their abilities.

--- "Thank you Kelly."

* * *

**ALTERNATE ENDING #1**

The family was gathered in the living room; it was Mother's Day. After everything that had happened, Alexis felt it appropriate if she invited Jax and Carly, with Michael and Morgan, Maxie and Spinelli, Robin and Patrick, with Emma, Mac, of course, and even Jason to the lake house for dinner. It was Mother's day, but it was also the day her eldest daughter had been born. As Alexis leaned into Mac, as they sat on the couch, and listened to everyone talk about the random topics of day, her eyes landed on a picture of she and Sam; her eyes welled with tears.

Mac noticed Alexis' change in mood and kissed the top of her head.

--- "Are you okay?"

She nodded her head.

--- "Yea, I'm fine."

Mac gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

A baby's cry was heard from the monitor. Before anyone could volunteer, Alexis was up in a flash.

--- "I've got her!"

There was a collective pout in the room as everyone had fallen in love with the baby; they all fawned over her.

Danielle Nicole, or Niki, as she was nicknamed, was a wonderful mixture of her family: she had the fiery red hair and creamy skin of her aunt Kristina, the deeply dimpled cheeks of her grandmother, but the obvious tininess of her aunts and mother.

Alexis walked into the baby's nursery and smiled at the small infant who wiggled in her crib.

--- "Oh, jelly bean, you wanted to be a part of the action too? Okay, come to Nana; let's get you changed and presentable so you can join the party!"

She quickly put a clean diaper on the baby, and dressed her in a pretty dress. When she was dressed, Alexis sat with her for a few moments and stared into the baby's beautifully sparkling blue eyes. She held the child in her arms astounded by her beauty. Her eyes filled with tears every time she looked at her.

Alexis had been so captivated by her granddaughter that she did not notice the two people standing in the room.

--- "Mom."

She looked up and finally noticed her daughter standing there. She brushed the tears from her face.

--- "I'm sorry; I was just lost in thought."

--- "I noticed. I'll be back; I'm going to get her a bottle."

Alexis noticed the second person who had been standing in the room.

--- "Laura!"

Laura was not sure how welcomed she was in Alexis' home, considering the part her son had played in the torment and devastation.

--- "Hi Alexis; I'm sorry to intrude—"

Alexis held the baby to her, as she walked up to Laura.

--- "There's no intrusion Laura; Niki is as much your granddaughter as she is mine. God, she's even got your eyes."

She handed the baby to Laura; Niki went to her paternal grandmother willingly. Laura stared at the little girl; despite all the features she took from various family members, there was still no mistaking it that she was her mother's daughter. She could see every bit of Sam in the baby.

--- "I guess she does, but she certainly looks a lot like Sam."

Alexis smiled.

--- "She definitely does. I'll leave you to get to know your granddaughter for a few minutes."

Laura smiled at Alexis.

--- "Thank you."

Alexis nodded her head.

--- "Laura, you don't have to ever think that you're not welcome here. So please don't be a stranger."

Alexis turned and left her granddaughter with her grandmother. As she was headed toward the living room, she bumped into her daughter.

--- "Sorry, honey."

Sam smiled at her mother.

--- "It's okay."

They walked back into the room and handed Laura the bottle for Niki.

--- "Thank you."

Laura looked at a picture of the family at Niki's baptism; Alexis, Mac, Kristina, Molly and Spencer, with Sam holding the baby with Jason by her side. She smiled sadly.

--- "Your family is beautiful."

Sam looked at the picture and nodded.

--- "Thank you."

She reached into a baby book and took out a small photo.

--- "Just give this to Lucky, please."

It was a picture of the baby. Laura looked down at the baby she was feeding.

--- "She's a gorgeous child. Lucky would've loved to meet her."

Alexis rolled her eyes; she did not like the topic of that man in the presence of her granddaughter.

--- "Well, tell him if in 10-15 years he's still interested, we might be willing to entertain the thought."

She immediately regretted what she said when she saw Laura's face drop.

--- "I'm sorry, Laura. Nikolas was your son—"

A tear fell from Laura's face onto the baby's cheek.

--- "Yes he was, but you know what, he wouldn't want us to hate Lucky. Lucky hates himself more than anything right now."

Alexis sighed and looked at the baby again.

--- "You're right. Um, how about we leave you here to bond with Niki?"

Laura smiled.

--- "I'd like that very much."

Alexis put her hand out for Sam to take. They walked out to the hallway and toward the living room before Sam tugged at her mother's hand for her to stop.

--- "Mom, are you okay? You've been acting strangely all day."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter and kissed the top of her head.

--- "Oh honey, it's just that today is Mother's Day, but it's also your birthday. I just keep thinking about how when I gave birth you thirty years ago, you were taken from me. Then I think about when I thought I lost you after the launch incident, and my world fell apart; it was like a horrible déjà vu of the day I gave you up. And then I think about how you almost died, AGAIN, and I could feel you slipping away in my arms—"

Alexis began to tear up again. Sam held onto her mother.

--- "Mom, it's okay, but I'm here."

Alexis took Sam's face into her hands.

--- "I don't ever want to feel like that again, honey. I don't ever want to lose any of you; not you, Krissy, Molly, Spencer, or Mac."

Sam smiled.

--- "You won't; we're safe now."

Alexis held her daughter.

--- "And that is the best Mother's Day gift I could ask for. I've got you, Krissy, Molly, and now Niki. There's nothing more I need."

* * *

**ALTERNATE ENDING #2**

Alexis went to bed after the second funeral she had to have for her daughter feeling drained. She could not cry any more tears; she had to raise her grandchild as her own, along with her young nephew. Both of the children were parentless; Spencer was an orphan, while Niki's father was not allowed anywhere near her; Alexis would never forgive him for the loss he caused.

Mac had wanted to stay with her, but she just wanted her girls beside her; he and Spencer "camped" in the living room.

Kristina and Molly crawled into bed with her, while Niki's bassinet stood next to her bed. Molly snuggled in close with her mother, afraid that soon Alexis might retreat within herself as she did the first time Sam died.

--- "Mommy, I love you."

Alexis took comfort in the fact that her daughter looked so much like Sam. Unlike the first time, seeing Molly resemble Sam so strongly eased the pain in her heart.

--- "Oh you don't even know how much I love you, baby."

She reached over to Kristina who had become quite silent throughout the whole ordeal.

--- "And I love you too, sweetheart."

Kristina smiled and nodded.

--- "I love you too, Mom."

Alexis looked into the bassinet one last time before turning out the light. She looked out of the window and up toward the sky.

--- "Good night Sam."

* * *

Agent Raynor stared at her as she walked out. The paramedics began to examine him as he lay there, but he had begun to feel cold.

--- "I think it's a bit cold in here."

The worked looked at each other worriedly. They strapped him onto a gurney.

--- "Can you please tell me sons that I love them? Tell them that their lives are finally safe?"

He looked up to the ceiling as everything began to get fuzzy. He saw someone approach him.

--- "Mama?"

She put her hand on his forehead.

--- "My son."

He smiled at her.

--- "So you finally made it."

She put her hand out, and a man came to stand beside her. He put his hand on Raynor's chest.

--- "Thank you. You saved my daughter and grandchildren; I'm grateful for that."

--- "I'm in awe of your daughter's courage and strength."

The man held Layna's hand.

--- "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Raynor looked at a man standing a way off in the distance, before looking at Mikkos.

--- "I love her."

* * *

The morning sun shined brightly into the room. Her daughter was still snuggled tightly into her. Alexis brushed the hair from her face and looked at her.

--- "Molly? Are you feeling alright?"

The child slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her mother.

--- "Mama?"

Her voice sounded different. Alexis looked around the room; it was unrecognizable.

--- "KRISTINA?"

She turned to check on the baby, but the bassinet was gone. She jumped out of the bed.

--- "Oh my God, where's Niki?!"

--- "Mommy? What's wrong with you?"

Alexis looked the child in the eyes; there was something different.

--- "Samantha?"

She smiled at her mother.

--- "Mommy, who are you looking for?"

* * *

**Many thanks to those who stuck it out through the writing of the story. Many thanks to my reviewers; I could not have written such a great story without your wonderful reviews and opinions. I am very appreciative of your help and support!**

**~Mel.**

**Sorry! I posted this so late I forgot to mention that Carol, in re Alternative ending 2, your wish has been answered. The muse has struck; there will be a part 3.**

**So, the question posed is this: WHO'S HOPPING OFF THE RIDE? WHO'S STAYING ON? Stay tuned.**


	41. SNEAK PREVIEW TO PART THREE

**Well, for those who will continue on to Part Three of the Déjà Vu series, On Ne Change Pas (title subject to change), here is a sneak preview…**

* * *

Alexis looked at the little seven year old girl who had just woken up in her arms.

--- "What did you say?"

The little girl smiled. She put her little hand on her mother's forehead.

--- "Mommy, are you feeling okay? Do you have a tummy ache?"

Alexis shook her head and smiled at her little girl; she marveled at how beautiful she was. She began to tickle her, until the girl was laughing so hard she was begging for mercy lest she have an accident.

--- "You're silly Mommy!"

She tapped her daughter on the nose.

--- "So are you jelly bean."

Sam looked at her mother with her big brown eyes; they were the shape of teardrops. She crawled into her lap and rested her head on her mother's chest; she played with the bracelet on Alexis' wrist.

--- "You looked sad."

Alexis rested her cheek on top of Sam's head.

--- "When honey?"

--- "Before. You called me Molly. You screamed for Kristina. Who were you looking for?"

She put her daughter back on the bed and stood up. She brushed the hair from her Sam's face; her daughter looked very much like her, but at the same time, still retained his characteristics. She smiled at the little girl.

--- "Mommy just had a weird dream."

--- "Was it scary?"

Alexis thought to herself.

--- "You know what, it wasn't scary; I think it was just strange."

--- "How?"

She felt tears welling in her eyes.

--- "I thought I lost you, Sammy."

The little girl stood on the bed and opened her arms to her mother.

--- "But I'm here, Mommy."

Alexis lifted the girl and gave her a kiss on the cheeks, and hugged her daughter tightly.

--- "Yes you are. I love you, jelly bean."

There was no response; her daughter always said she loved her back.

--- "Sammy, you're not going to tell Mommy you love her too?"

Still nothing.

Alexis pulled back from the embrace to find a pillow in her arms.

--- "Sam?"

She jolted up from her sleep. Her heart broke at the realization that her daughter was not in her arms; she was having another one of those dreams. Alexis curled into a ball and cried herself back to sleep, praying that she'd see her daughter again.

* * *

**Coming soon…**

**What do you think?**

**Feb 2010 UPDATE**** : While the story did get written, and you may check it out, but it has been put on the backburner indefinitely. Check out instead ****UN MALHEUR RELATIF, which is based on a similar premise... **


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